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WYDEN, SMITH TAKE AIM AT
OREGON’S GROWING METH PROBLEM
New legislation seeks to curb use, distribution
of deadly drug
through increased law enforcement, public education campaigns
January 26, 2005
Washington, DC – U.S.
Senators Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) today took
steps to stop the creation, distribution and use of methamphetamine,
now the second most-treated drug addiction among Oregon teens.
Wyden and Smith joined U.S. Senators Jim Talent (R-Mo.) and Dianne
Feinstein (D-Calif.) to unveil the “Combat Meth Act.”
The legislation would provide resources and tools to help law
enforcement officials and prosecutors to pursue and punish producers
and distributors of meth, increase community awareness of the
meth problem, and establish new treatment options. The Oregon
Department of Human Services has reported that meth use is the
biggest drug problem facing Oregon child welfare today.
“The lethal and growing
meth problem ruins thousands of young lives each year, and this
legislation aims to give our communities the appropriate tools
to stop the epidemic,” said Wyden. “I am committed
to continuing to work with Senator Smith and others to attack
the growing meth problem in Oregon.”
“Meth is a horrifying
and corrosive presence in Oregon communities,” Smith said.
“This bill sends desperately needed resources for law enforcement
and treatment – the most critical fronts in the war against
meth.”
Methamphetamine is one of the
most deadly, fiercely addictive and rapidly spreading drugs in
the United States. During the past decade, while law enforcement
officers continue to close record numbers of clandestine labs,
methamphetamine use in communities has increased by as much as
300 percent. The Combat Meth Act makes critical funding available
to states, including Oregon, for equipment, training for law enforcement
agents and prosecutors to bring legal action against meth offenders
and clean-up meth labs. It also provides treatment grants for
those affected by this dangerous drug.
Specifically, the legislation
does the following:
• Provides an additional
$15 million under the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS)
program to train state and local law enforcement to investigate
and lock up methamphetamine offenders, and to expand the methamphetamine
“hot spots” program to include personnel and equipment
for enforcement, prosecution and environmental clean-up.
• Provides $5 million
to hire additional federal prosecutors and train local prosecutors
in state and federal meth laws and cross-designate them as Special
Assistant U.S. Attorneys, allowing them to bring legal action
against “meth cooks” and traffickers in federal courts
under tougher guidelines.
• Amends the Controlled
Substances Act to appropriately limit and record the sale of medicines
containing pseudoephedrine by placing them behind the pharmacy
counter.
• Provides $5 million
for states and businesses that legally sell ingredients used to
cook meth, to help monitor purchases of methamphetamine precursors
(pseudoephedrine) and to provide training expenses and technical
assistance for law enforcement personnel and employees of businesses
which lawfully sell substances which may be used to make meth.
• Provides $5 million
in grant funding for “Drug-Endangered Children rapid response
teams” to promote collaboration among federal, state, and
local agencies to assist and educate children who have been affected
by the production of methamphetamine. In 2002, 109 children were
removed from Oregon homes with meth labs; 42 percent of them were
ages 6 or younger. About 50 percent of the children taken out
of meth labs test positive for meth themselves.
• Authorizes the creation
of a Methamphetamine Research, Training and Technical Assistance
Center that will research effective treatments for meth abuse
and disseminate information and technical assistance to states
and private entities on how to improve current treatment methods.
The Combat Meth Act is expected
to be referred the Senate Judiciary Committee.
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