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Newsbrief:
Ontario
Court
Authorizes
Crackdown
on
Marijuana
Growers
10/25/02
Prosecutors in Ontario are
vowing to follow the lead of a provincial Court of Appeal ruling last week
that upheld a jail sentence for a Stoney Creek man convicted of running
a residential grow-op, the Kitchener-Waterloo Record reported. Most
cannabis cultivators charged in Ontario in recent years have received conditional
sentences (probation), while the longest jail sentence in recent years
was 15 months.
In sentencing Khuong Van
Nguyen to two years in prison last June for turning his home into a grow-op,
Justice Bernd Zabel lashed out at cannabis cultivators. "They have
invaded our community with apparent impunity," she said. "They have
boldly entered residential areas where our citizens have saved to purchase
dream homes for themselves and their families -- only to be confronted
with large-scale, high-risk criminal activity on their street and even
next door." Now was the time to make the "risk-reward ration" less
favorable to growers, she said.
Nguyen's lawyers appealed,
arguing that the sentence was too harsh. The Ontario Court of Appeals
ruled that jail time was indeed appropriate for grow-op convictions, especially
in light of "evidence of the increasing prevalence of this form of offense
in the local communities." Even so, the court reduced Nguyen's sentence
to time served. Nguyen has done 14 months in jail.
Still, Crown prosecutors
are crowing. "The Crown will be using the Court of Appeal decision
as a precedent for all future sentencings," said Kitchener drug prosecutor
David Rowcliffe.
-- END --
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Issue #260, 10/25/02
Antiprohibitionists Meet at European Parliament in Brussels | Vigilante Drug Bust in Arizona Opens Window into World of Hurt on Mexican Border | Election 2002:00:00 Governor's Races of Interest | Smoke Dope to Fight Chemical Warfare Attacks? Israeli Activists Say Check It Out | This Week's Cop Corruption Story: Two Texas Villarreals | Newsbrief: Federal Court Upholds Drug Tests for Welfare Recipients | Newsbrief: Bill to Ban Salvia Divinorum Introduced | Newsbrief: In Ecuador, Plan Colombia Foe Appears Headed for Presidency | Newsbrief: Feds to Prosecute Ayahuasca Case | Newsbrief: Baltimore Killings Bring More of the Same Old Policies | Newsbrief: Richmond, Virginia Drug Sweep Underway | Newsbrief: Massachusetts Reform Advocates Release Decrim Study as Elections Near | Newsbrief: Oklahoma Uses Civil Suits in War on Meth | Newsbrief: U Missouri SSDP, NORML in Marijuana Petition Drive | Newsbrief: Ontario Court Authorizes Crackdown on Marijuana Growers | Quote of the Week: William Raspberry | Web Scan: DRCNet in the Media, Dan Forbes on Alternet, VoteHemp, Change the Climate, Journey for Justice, Sydney Morning Herald | Job Opportunity: PreventionWorks, Washington, DC | Errata: Polling on San Francisco Proposition S | Calling on Students to Raise Your Voices for Repeal of the HEA Drug Provision | Action Alerts: Rave Bill, Medical Marijuana, Higher Education Act Drug Provision | The Reformer's Calendar
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