Pubdate: Wed, 01 Dec 2004 Source: News & Observer (NC) Copyright: 2004 The News and Observer Publishing Company Contact: http://www.news-observer.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/304 Author: Matthew Eisley, Staff Writer Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) NEW METH LAWS WORSEN PENALTIES Starting today, state and local authorities have tougher laws to fight what many say is North Carolina's fastest-growing scourge: homemade methamphetamine. Until now, you could get caught making the illegal stimulant and easily avoid prison time. Now the penalty for producing meth has risen sharply, from likely probation to a mandatory five to 17 years behind bars. Just having ingredients in quantities sufficient to make meth can get you five years, instead of community service, but prosecutors have to prove the intent to manufacture meth. Making meth around children can get you extra years. So can causing injuries to authorities busting your secret meth lab. And if someone dies from an overdose of your meth, you can be charged with murder, not just involuntary manslaughter. North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper, who led the push this year for the new laws, says they will help fight what he calls a growing social catastrophe. "The guaranteed prison time for meth makers will be critical for the safety of our communities," Cooper said Tuesday. "Not only will it serve as a deterrent, but it will get methamphetamine manufacturers off the street. To put them behind bars will help law enforcement, prosecutors and our communities." Not only can the users of meth become paranoid and violent, but also the drug's manufacture produces hazardous waste and can cause explosions and fires. It is often cooked using ephedrine or pseudoephedrine, decongestants commonly found in over-the-counter cold medicine, as well as common household chemicals. People sometimes produce it around children, who are exposed to the fumes and possible injury. A cheap and highly addictive drug, meth comes in powder and rock form. It can be snorted, swallowed, smoked or injected. Meth causes a euphoric high that can last six hours to a day. It is a habit that is hard to kick. "This is a drug that anybody can get addicted to," Cooper said. "And meth can be manufactured close to where you are."' Widely available The drug, sometimes called "speed," has been around for decades. What is new is that it is being made across North Carolina, so it is cheaper and more widely available. Other common nicknames are chalk, wash, hillbilly heroin, Redneck cocaine, and ice, which is meth crystals. It is in the same class of drugs as cocaine and PCP. Like them, it can cause severe psychological or physical dependence, even death. But until now, meth production wasn't targeted aggressively. "The law had not caught up with this problem," Cooper said. Meth is made in the Triangle. So far this year, three meth labs have been found in Wake County, five in Harnett County, four in Johnston County, and one each in Franklin and Lee counties, according to the State Bureau of Investigation, which helps local authorities shut down the labs. On Monday, Chatham County authorities issued arrest warrants for a suspect they say had about 12 ounces of crystal meth (worth $25,000), three ounces of cocaine, six pounds of marijuana and steroids. They said they did not find a meth lab. Taking advantage Harnett County Sheriff Larry Rollins said he puts so much stock in the new meth laws that he has held off raiding two suspected meth labs until now. "We delayed investigations to take advantage of the new law," Rollins said. "The punishments were insufficient. Now they are much more severe." Under the old law, Rollins said, most convicted meth makers got probation, so they were soon free to produce and sell more of it. "Hopefully, now judges will get these people off the street -- because they just don't quit," he said. Cooper wasn't alone in cracking down on meth. Gov. Mike Easley joined the effort, and the General Assembly changed the law. Cooper said he will ask the General Assembly next year for more SBI agents to help fight meth production. He already has asked the governor to endorse the request. And if the new laws don't do the trick, Cooper said, he might push for more measures -- such as limiting the amount of cold medicine anyone can buy at one time. "I think this is an issue we'll be dealing with every session of the General Assembly," he said. "We want to raise the level of awareness with the community at large. Because it's manufactured here, and because of its highly addictive nature, it's unlike any drug we've seen before." - --- MAP posted-by: Derek