You Call That a Mandatory Minimum?
Canada, which has long taken a less repressive approach to marijuana than its neighbor to the south, is showing that it can be mindlessly draconian too. "Under the Tories' omnibus crime legislation tabled Tuesday," notes Province columnist Ethan Baron, "a person growing 201 pot plants in a rental unit would receive a longer mandatory sentence than someone who rapes a toddler or forces a five-year-old to have sex with an animal." But Canada still has a long way to go before it equals the absurdly harsh drug sentences we enjoy here in the U.S. The new mandatory minimum penalties include six months for growing six to 200 marijuana plants and one year for more than 200; the maximum penalty for cultivation of any amount is 14 years. Under U.S. law, by contrast, growing fewer than 50 plants can get you up to five years, while 50-99 plants can get you 10; 100 plants will get you a five-year mandatory minimum (10 times the Canadian penalty) with a maximum of 40 years, and 1,000 or more will get you a 10-year mandatory minimum with a maximum of life. Canadians are such pussies.
[Thanks to Richard Cowan for the tip.]
