I urge you to oppose HR 1528, the "Defending America's Most Vulnerable: Safe
Access to Drug Treatment and Child Protection Act."  By imposing mandatory
minimum sentences for drug offences, this bill would restrict judges' authority
to issue sentences appropriate to the particular offence and offender.  Most
significantly, section 425 of this bill, by making it a crime for those with
knowledge of a drug crime not to inform law enforcement officials within
twenty-four hours, would create a Stalinist system in which neighbours would
be required to inform on neighbours (on pain of two to ten years in prison),
and even parents on their own children (on pain of three to ten years).  No
longer could drugs issues be handled within families and social institutions
where they belong - instead, everyone even peripherally involved would become
criminalised.