rug deals draw no jail From page 1 Both accused stated they believed they were dealing Ecstasy, a sometimes dangerous mood altering upper. PCP is an addictive drug. Te causes violent, berserk behaviour and psychosis, The drug trafficking took place in the summer and fall of 1998 in several locales, including the Pack Royal Hotel and the Starbucks on Marine Drive in North Vancouver. Meissner and Ehlers lived at the Intemational Plaza on Marine Drive. North Vancouver RCMP undercover officers paid $1,200 for 14.5 ym (4 02) of Festasy. They initially purchased $1,800 worth of Ecstasy; in two subsequent buys they purchased $750 and $1,800 worth of the drug. Drug, analysis showed the Ecstasy was really PCP. Ehlers and Meissner npped-of¥ the police when 85 gm (3 02) of Ecstasy was sold for $4,200. The white powder turned out to be sugar (lactose). As in the Halloween explosives conviction in which Ehlers received a fine and probation, Ehlers again walked out of the court- house without being jailed after sentencing for serious crimes. Judge Paradis gave Ehlers an 18-month conditional sentence despite the prosecuting Crown lawyer's request for nvo years less a day in jail. Crown lawyer Jay Swaith argued that jail was necessary for deterrence and to reflect the public’s disapproval. In his 17-page reasons for sentencing, Paradis referred to a recent Supreme Court of Canada finding in which Canada’s incarceration rate was pegged at second or third highest in industrialized democra- cies, Jail, according to the Supreme Court, was costly, frequently unduly harsh and ineffective in its rehabilitative goals and broader public goals. Meissner, Ehlers’ co-accused, was given a 12-month conditional sentence. The judge described Meissner as being “easily led by oth- ers. Meissner was contrasted with the Deep Cove-raised Ehlers, who had just completed his probation on his explosives sentence when he began trafficking substantial amounts of drugs to undercover North Vancouver RCMP drug section officers. Strath called Ehlers “more of the main directorial mind” who “stays carefully in the background und he thinks it’s safely clear.” The judge required Ehlers and Meissner to “speak to students of every secondary school in School District Ne. 44 specifically about the dangers of the drugs MIDMA and PCP and of the widespread misconceptions in the community about those drugs and their dan- ers.” To reflect Eblers’ “somewhat greater involvement” and Ehlers’ criminal record, the judge ordered Ehlers to perform 125 hours of community work compared with Meisstier’s 75 hours. Ehlers is uired to be under “house arrest” for four months, but is permit ted to go to work and school and to obtain the necessities of life and perform conditions of his sentence. He also had a two-month night ucfew imposed after his house arrest. Ehlers was ordered to con- tribute $1,000 to the West Coast Alternatives Society. Meissner was sentenced to house arrest for pvo months toilowed NEWS phote Paul McGrath Eagle on ihe bali BRENT Charleton ted the Carson Graham Eagles in a 74-63 quarter-final win over White Rock Christian Warriers Thursday. The Eagles played Terry Fox Ravens Friday night in a semi-final. See story page 40. by a 30-day night curfew. He was required to cuntribute $500 to the West Coast Alternatives Society. Paradis stated that he was “advised” that the entire profit for all the drug transactions for Ehlers was between $1,000 to $1,200. The judge said Ehlers had repaid police $2,000 of the $4,200 he had received in the lactose ripoff. Paradis stated that Ehlers had turned his life around in the past 12 months: “Family and friends whe have written in his behalfhad made it clear that he is to them at least, an honest, hard working, diligent young man, highly skilled in fabrication and welding as well as an extremely competent sailor.” Drugs flow with demands of marketplace JUDGE Jerome Paradis addressed deterrence in a March 14 reasons on sentence for convicted drug traffickers Mark Ehlers and Isak Meissner: “Trafficking in drugs by persons who are not themselves addicted is purely a matter of economics: a black market exists and persons willing to take the risks of participating in that black mar- ket can reap some financial benefits. The power of the marketplace is cuntinually extolled in these days of heady economic booms and this is a market, no different from any other. As long as the demand exists, the supply will continue and peuple will fill the void 7 FOR YOUR QUALITY USED GOODS No costly adverts! 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