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SENATE APPROVES NEW EFFORTS TO FIGHT
OREGON’S GROWING METH PROBLEM
Wyden, Smith championed legislation to
curb use, distribution of deadly drug
through increased law enforcement, public education campaigns;
legislation does not preempt tougher state laws to combat meth
use
September 15, 2005
Washington, DC – U.S. Senators
Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) today announced that
the U.S. Senate has approved legislation they championed to stop
the creation, distribution and use of methamphetamine. The Combat
Meth Act, which Wyden and Smith cosponsored along with U.S. Senators
Jim Talent (R-Mo.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), has been included
as part of the Fiscal Year 2006 Commerce, Justice Science (CJS)
Appropriations legislation. The CJS appropriations bill now moves
to a conference committee to work out differences between it and
the House version of the bill. The Combat Meth legislation will
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. Meth is the second-most treated
drug addiction among Oregon teens.
“The deadly problem of meth
is eating away at the social fabric of our state, and today’s
action by the Senate is a big step forward in rebuilding that
fabric in a variety of ways,” said Wyden. “Fighting
meth use and distribution requires a multi-pronged approach, and
the Federal government needs to do its part to support the good
work of communities throughout Oregon to make headway in fighting
this pernicious epidemic.”
“Meth and its traffic have
proven to be as infectious as they are corrosive,” said
Smith. “By preventing the production and movement of Meth,
communities can begin taking back the neighborhoods, schools and
families that have been ravaged by the addiction.”
In July, Wyden and Smith worked
with their colleagues on the Judiciary Committee to support changes
to the original Combat Meth Act to ensure that the bill, as passed
today, would not preempt tougher state laws restricting access
to cold medicines containing methamphetamine precursors.
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 approved today 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.
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