A Calgary judge has issued a sharp critique of a controversial Trump-era drug enforcement strategy while deciding the fate of a local fentanyl trafficker, highlighting profound disparities in how different players in the opioid crisis are treated.
A Sentence Rooted in Context and Critique
In a written decision, Justice Harry Van Harten of the Calgary Court of Justice sentenced Agnes Abraham, 51, to a one-year conditional sentence to be served in the community for possession of fentanyl for the purpose of trafficking. This sentence, handed down instead of further jail time, was influenced by Abraham's tragic Indigenous background and the over-representation of Indigenous people in Canadian prisons.
However, Justice Van Harten's reasoning extended far beyond the individual circumstances of the case. He delved into the broader, systemic inequalities of the so-called "war on drugs," drawing a stark contrast between the prosecution of street-level dealers and the corporations often implicated in creating addiction.
Condemning "Indiscriminate" Military Force
The judge's decision took direct aim at a policy associated with the former Trump administration. Van Harten referenced a commentary by historian David Herzberg that criticized the U.S. government's strategy of bombing alleged drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.
Van Harten adopted Herzberg's characterization, calling the tactic the "indiscriminate use of military force to kill people without regard to the rules of marine, martial, international, and American law." He expressed skepticism that such extreme measures, or simply imposing longer prison sentences, are effective deterrents against the narcotics trade.
The "White" Side vs. The "Black" Side of Trafficking
Central to the judge's analysis was the dichotomy between different actors in the opioid epidemic. He noted that Herzberg's article suggests the current fentanyl crisis is an outcome of both the "black" side of trafficking (street drugs) and the "white" side, which includes the over-prescription of opioid painkillers by pharmaceutical companies.
"Traffickers on the 'white' side (such as pharmaceutical companies) pay fines, settle lawsuits and, even if they don’t pay up, they don’t go to jail," Van Harten wrote. "On the 'black' side, lengthy terms of imprisonment are imposed." He described this as the difference in how participants in what he called "a crime marked by greed and the pursuit of profit" are treated.
This systemic backdrop formed part of the context for sentencing Abraham, who was arrested on May 25 in the parking lot of the Grey Eagle Casino southwest of Calgary. Police found her in possession of 60.6 grams of contraband, mostly carfentanil and fentanyl.
Rejecting the Crown's request for a three-year prison term, Van Harten concluded Abraham was not a high-level commercial trafficker. "It is likely that her possession for the purpose (of trafficking) was to further her own addiction," he stated. Having already served the equivalent of a one-year jail term since her arrest, she was ordered to serve a 12-month conditional sentence followed by one year of probation.
The judge's decision, posted online, serves as a rare judicial commentary linking international drug enforcement policy to the sentencing of individual offenders in a Canadian courtroom, questioning the fundamental fairness and efficacy of the ongoing war on drugs.
