An Act to amend the Criminal Code and the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (addiction treatment in penitentiaries)
Bill C-283 was a Conservative Private Member's Bill amending the Criminal Code (R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46) and the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (S.C. 1992, c. 20) to establish a federal addiction-treatment-program option for offenders sentenced to two-year-or-less custodial sentences for drug-related offences. Sponsored by then-Conservative MP Todd Doherty (Cariboo-Prince George). Approximately 75 percent of federal inmates have a substance-use disorder per Correctional Service of Canada data; addiction-driven offences contribute substantially to the federal-prison population. The bill called for a residential addiction-treatment program option under section 4 of the CCRA, parallel to the BC Drug Treatment Court framework and the Quebec PDPC framework. Did not pass second reading.
Status
Quick learn
Would let courts send non-violent offenders with addictions (serving two years or less for drug-related crimes) to a residential treatment program instead of regular prison. About 75 percent of federal inmates have a substance-use disorder. A Conservative private member's bill from Todd Doherty; it did not pass second reading.
Issues this bill touches
- Drug Policy & Harm Reduction
Lets sentencing judges send non-violent offenders with substance-use disorders to residential addiction treatment instead of prison.
Legislative history
- First reading
First reading in the House of Commons.
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Official source
Read full text on Parliament of Canada