Mr. Chair, the short answer is, yes. Mandatory minimum sentencing puts the emphasis on deterrence. It actually raises the stakes for those who choose to flaunt the law, for those who choose to engage in the illicit proliferation of drugs.
Grow ops are a huge problem. A massive epidemic is the way it has been described by many in the law enforcement community.
It is causing a lot of spinoff crime. Because of the stakes, because of the money, because of the activity that encompasses drug use, drug proliferation, we are seeing more murders, more break and enters, more terrible addictions that lead to all sorts of other crime and all sorts of other moral decay.
We know that in British Columbia this is the biggest export from that province. This is a huge challenge with our relations with the United States of America, as well. This is another collateral damage as a result of letting this issue run rampant.
It is about resources. It is about having the ability to shut down those grow operations. Part of that is ensuring that there will be consequences, mandatory minimum sentences, deterrents, put in the mind of those who would break the law. As well, it indicates that the justice system is prepared to take these crimes seriously.
Sadly, the government appears to be moving in the polar opposite direction. Talking about decriminalizing marijuana and lessening the consequences sends the complete opposite message of what we should be trying to attain here. We should be telling those who grow marijuana, who produce drugs that there are consequences. Crystal meth and other drugs like OxyContin are rampant in Nova Scotia, and Cape Breton in particular. These are life altering, life destroying drugs. This is happening in this country.
The law enforcement community is that thin blue line which is there to protect us, to enforce the law. When the law enforcement officers have done their job and placed the criminals into the hands of the criminal justice system, the crown prosecutors, judges, lawyers, those around the justice system who support that program, there has to be consequences. There has to be a mandatory minimum sentence, because of the money involved.
It is becoming the cost of doing business to be arrested, to pay a fine or to be placed on probation. Those consequences are not real. People know that, particularly those in organized crime, particularly those who see the profit and are prepared to take the risk. There must be serious jail time. There must be serious consequences if we are to try to combat the scourge.