Nicotine Seems to Help Recovering Alcoholics’ Cognitive Functioning
December 5th, 2007 Posted by: Dr. Cox
Even as U.S. lawmakers, jurists and policymakers have eased some mandatory drug sentences, Canada’s Justice Minister is proceeding with a plan to introduce the concept to the Canadian justice system, the Regina Leader-Post reported Nov. 28.
A pair of Canadian government reports concluded that mandatory minimum drug sentences don’t work, with one 2005 study concluding, “Minimum sentences are not an effective sentencing tool: that is, they constrain judicial discretion without offering any increased crime prevention benefits.”
But Canadian Justice Minister Rob Nicholson is supporting a Conservative plan to create mandatory sentences, including at least six months for growing or selling a marijuana plant and three years for producing cocaine or crystal methamphetamine.
Critics of the plan include some Canadian judges, who object to moves to limit their discretion in sentencing offenders.