"Health & Medical News"

Addiction recovery and parity advocate Rep. Jim Ramstad (R-Minn.) is reconsidering his decision to retire at the end of his current term in Congress, Roll Call reported Dec. 19.

Ramstad,?  a rare Republican moderate in the House of Representatives, announced his intention to retire in September, but has been pressured by GOP leaders — who fear the loss of his seat to the Democrats — to run for a 10th term in Congress. Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, praised Ramstad’s ability to work with Democratic and GOP colleagues and said he would be “delighted” if Ramstad ran again.

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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.”

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