Pubdate: Mon, 22 Dec 2003 Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch (VA) Copyright: 2003 Richmond Newspapers Inc. Contact: http://www.timesdispatch.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/365 Author: CALVIN R. TRICE METHAMPHETAMINE HELP SOUGHT Harrisonburg-Area Officials Want Legislators To Make Penalties For The Drug Stiffer HARRISONBURG - Police in the Shenandoah Valley are looking to the General Assembly for help in fighting methamphetamine trafficking, a problem that arrived in the area relatively recently but in a big way. Trafficking in the drug is concentrated in and around Harrisonburg and along the Interstate 81 corridor. Local authorities have had to prosecute with penalties they consider to be too light for big-time pushers, said Tom Murphy, coordinator of the drug task force for Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. "The community leaders we have are well aware of the situation," Murphy said. "In other parts of the state, they're not as familiar with the problems of meth because they don't have it in their back yard." Murphy and others are seeking stiffer penalties for traffickers. Some believe that approach has proven ineffective for addressing drug abuse. Nevertheless, state Sen.-elect Mark D. Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg, plans to introduce legislation at the upcoming assembly session that would provide methamphetamine the same sentencing guidelines as cocaine. The influx of the drug began about six years ago. Murphy is a special agent with the Virginia State Police Drug Enforcement Division. He heads the RUSH Drug Task Force, an eight-person team that uses personnel from the Harrisonburg Police Department and the Rockingham County Sheriff's Office. Over the last three years, RUSH has seized about 15 pounds of methamphetamine per year, he said. Combined with the Northwest Regional Drug Task Force to the north of RUSH, the units have seized the overwhelming majority of methamphetamine confiscated in the state the past few years. Also called speed, ice and crank, methamphetamine is a stimulant that causes hyperactivity and euphoria. Users can remain awake for days at a time. They ingest the drug by smoking, snorting or taking it orally like a pill. Valley users tend to be those who work extra jobs and take the drug to stay awake for second, third or overnight shifts in local plants. Interstate 81 provides convenient transport for the traffic, Murphy said. Local lawmakers have proposed the assembly enact harsher penalties for methamphetamine before, but without success. Obenshain plans to introduce a bill that would impose stiffer sentences on dealers caught with especially large amounts, as sentencing guidelines do for cocaine. He does not think the traffic will be as concentrated regionally for much longer without more deterrence. "I suspect it's not going to continue to be unique to the Shenandoah Valley," Obenshain said. "I believe it's going to be an increasing problem in other parts of the state." Under state law, methamphetamine is handled the same as heroin, cocaine and others considered among the most dangerous drugs, but without the penalty enhancements for higher amounts of cocaine. A conviction for making, possessing or distributing the stimulant is punishable by five to 40 years on the first offense and five years to life on second offense. A third conviction is punishable with five years to life, but comes with a mandatory three-years imprisonment. The idea that toughening those penalties will reduce the flow of drugs or the number of users has its doubters. Lennice Werth is a member of Virginians Against Drug Violence, based in Crewe, which advocates ending the drug war. "All these penalties are already very stiff," Werth said. "If the sentences are already long, making them longer is just going to cost more in incarceration. And you have to ask, is it going to be effective? There's no evidence that it's going to be effective." Murphy disagrees. Judges can suspend part or all of even the minimum sentences required under state law. Guaranteeing prison time as federal drug-sentencing guidelines do would make potential dealers think twice and help police use suspects to make bigger cases, he said. "I think it's a deterrence, and it does make a difference," he said. "When we indict somebody federally as opposed to [in state courts] the federal courts have mandatory minimum guidelines, and they're black-and-white. Without their cooperation, the judges have to adhere to the guidelines." - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart