Pubdate: Sun, 22 Sep 2002
Source: Messenger-Inquirer (KY)
Copyright: 2002 Messenger-Inquirer
Contact:  http://www.messenger-inquirer.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1285
Author:  Justin Willis
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

METH BATTLE WAGED ON MANY FRONTS

The fight against methamphetamine proliferation in Daviess County spans 
from covert police operations in fields to educational efforts in seminars 
and evolving laws geared to target the worst offenders.

The meth battle has multiple fronts which are intended to educate the 
public about the dangers of meth while working to eradicate labs, catch 
meth makers and deliver strict prison sentences for their crimes.

"We're convinced that methamphetamine is not a law enforcement problem, 
it's a community problem," Daviess County Sheriff Keith Cain said. "I think 
it's important for the community to realize the lengths we go to ... that 
the sheriff's department is aggressively pursuing this."

The sheriff's department uses "aggressive surveillance" techniques that 
send investigators to stake out anhydrous ammonia tanks in addition to 
suspected meth lab sites and trafficking areas, Cain said.

Some of the surveillance involves investigators spending several hours near 
an anhydrous ammonia tank and arresting meth manufacturers when they 
approach the tank in the dark to steal the crucial ingredient, Cain said.

The tools of battle have increased for prosecutors since state legislators 
voted to strengthen laws in 1998 to raise the penalty of possessing 
methamphetamine to a felony, Daviess Commonwealth's Attorney Jay Wethington 
said.

Since then, a cooperative effort between police, prosecutors and lawmakers 
established a variety of felony crimes related to meth such as having 
anhydrous ammonia in an unapproved container and making it illegal to 
possess meth precursors with the intent to manufacture the drug.

"The new laws have been very, very effective for us in the war on 
methamphetamine," Wethington said. "The law enforcement community and the 
Commonwealth's Attorney's Association have worked really well in the past 
in getting our laws changed ... and it's working. The legislature has been 
very receptive to give us the tools of law, and we're using them very well."

Prosecutors continue to fight for tougher laws and enhanced penalties for 
the worst meth offenders, Wethington said.

Before the new laws came into effect, police could catch a meth maker 
trying to steal anhydrous ammonia, but the charge would be a misdemeanor 
theft or criminal mischief violation, Wethington said. Now that offense is 
a felony.

The laws also provide police and prosecutors with discretion, he said. A 
law-abiding farmer may possess anhydrous ammonia, filters, tubes, cold 
medicine tablets and other materials commonly associated with meth making 
but would not be arrested or prosecuted if he did not intend to manufacture 
meth, Wethington said.

The sheriff's department frequently offers lectures for health care, school 
or church groups interested in learning more about meth, Cain said. The 
lectures have increased public knowledge of the drug and have evolved into 
additional tips of suspected labs, Cain said.

The lectures explain how to spot a lab, the tell-tale smell and some of the 
tools used in the manufacturing process, he said. The sheriff's department 
has a strong working relationship with local businesses who report people 
purchasing quantities of ingredients, he said.

"We've been tremendously successful in eliciting and garnering the support 
from the community in battling this problem," Cain said.

Before 1995 most of the isolated methamphetamine cases in Kentucky involved 
drugs made in California or Arizona, said Assistant Daviess Commonwealth's 
Attorney Ken Nall, who specializes in narcotic prosecution.

In 1995, a resident from the Midwest moved to McLean County and was 
arrested in Daviess County, Nall said. When police questioned the man he 
admitted knowing how to manufacture methamphetamine and taught about a 
dozen people in the area before he was apprehended, Nall said. Since then, 
Daviess County authorities have fought an uphill battle with proliferation, 
he said.

Establishing meth crimes as felonies has enabled prosecutors to seek 
harsher penalties, but the catch is that a convicted criminal may receive a 
10- to 20-year sentence for manufacturing meth and may serve only 20 
percent of the sentence before being eligible for parole, Nall said.

Trafficking meth may bring between five to 10 years, and possession, which 
includes residue to a large amount, could bring between one to five years, 
Nall said.

"The parole board is more apt to parole these people because there is not 
an active victim, per se, and it's a nonviolent offense," Nall said. "The 
idea that drugs are a victimless crime just blows all over me. Explain that 
to the police officer that had to inhale a bunch of ether or got chemical 
burns."

The perpetrators of other crimes from forgery, theft and burglary have been 
proven to be connected with a drug habit, Nall said.

Depending on additional factors such as the size and sophistication of the 
lab.prosecutors may work in conjunction with the U.S. attorney's office to 
prosecute certain criminals. The federal system does not offer parole as an 
option, Nall said.

Out of every 10 drug crimes that Nall presents to a grand jury, at least 
six or seven of them are meth related, Nall said. About two of every 10 are 
related to crack cocaine, and the remainder are felony marijuana crimes, he 
said.

Both Wethington and Nall said they advocate additional laws that would give 
prosecutors and judges more leverage in deciding the severity of a penalty.

Nall praised Kentucky's proactive stance to upgrade meth penalties to 
felonies but said additional tools are needed.

State law does not discriminate between the quantity of drugs except for 
marijuana, Nall said. A person may be charged with the same meth 
trafficking charge whether he or she possess a pound or a ton, he said.

A new wish list among prosecutors includes enhanced penalties for people 
accused of making meth in a multifamily building such as a motel, which is 
a very common occurrence, Wethington said. Often meth and the harmful 
chemicals are made in the presence of small children, who are exposed to 
the chemical fumes, he said.

An enhanced penalty would require certain criminals to serve 85 percent of 
their sentence before being considered for parole, he said.
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