Yellowknife (Dec 19/03) - The 22-year-old head of a Kugluktuk drug distribution ring was sentenced, Tuesday at the Yellowknife courthouse, to seven months in jail.

Mark Luzny waved goodbye to his common-law wife as an RCMP officer led him to a holding cell after he pleaded guilty to trafficking in a controlled substance.

"There may be a changing attitude to simple possession (of marijuana) but not to trafficking," said territorial court Chief Judge Michel Bourassa as he passed sentence.

Police found 36 grams of marijuana, rolling papers, electric scales and more than $830 in cash in Luzny's Kugluktuk home during a July 31 raid.

Police also discovered two "score sheets" -- books that outlined exactly how much money his customers owed.

Crown attorney Andrew Fox said Luzny had a number of people selling drugs for him, including one man who stole an undisclosed amount of pot from Luzny and was required to work off his debt.

At nearly $20 per joint, Fox said Luzny was at the centre of a lucrative "commercial venture".

Luzny has lived in Yellowknife at various times over the years and returned to the city after his arrest. He told the court he dropped out of school in Grade 9 and couldn't get a legitimate job because he is unable to read and write.

"I had to do it," said Luzny of his drug dealing. His lawyer also told the court Luzny was selling pot to help pay for his serious crack-cocaine addiction.

But Bourassa wasn't buying those arguments. He said Luzny was simply looking to make to a quick buck.

"The Crown quite correctly characterized (what you were doing) as a commercial venture," he said.