Pubdate: Thu, 11 Mar 2004 Source: Montgomery Advertiser (AL) Copyright: 2004sThe Advertiser Co. Contact: http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1088 Author: Jannell McGrew Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) BILLS CRACK DOWN ON METH In one year alone, Alabama law enforcement officials have busted hundreds of methamphetamine labs, and their job could get a lot easier if tougher laws are put in place, says one legislator who's leading the charge to do just that. Senate President Pro Tem Lowell Barron, D-Fyffe, announced three bills Wednesday that he is confident will help authorities crack down on methamphetamine producers. Barron said the criminal activity has become an "epidemic" in rural Alabama. "Crystal meth is the most horrible, devastating drug that I have ever seen in my pharmaceutical lifetime," Barron said during a news conference in the Senate chambers Wednesday morning. "This destroys families. The end course in most of the cases is death." Legislation the senator is proposing would make it easier for authorities to prosecute the drug's producers, who authorities say can spend about $50 at a local convenience store and make several grams of the highly addictive substance. Senate Bill 386, if passed, would require the courts to hold the perpetrators responsible for all cleanup and forensic analysis costs, while SB 385 would make it a felony for merchants to sell ingredients they know will be used illegally. Law enforcement officials in DeKalb County say their jurisdiction is among those rural areas with steadily increasing numbers of illegal laboratories - -- commonly known as "meth labs." "This past year alone in DeKalb and Cherokee counties, we've busted over 127 meth labs, which is more than the entire state of New York, Virginia, Delaware, New Jersey and four other New England states combined," said Mike O'Dell, DeKalb County district attorney. "Methamphetamine manufacturing is a rural phenomenon at this time." Current state law stipulates that an individual must possess more than one methamphetamine ingredient before such possession is deemed illegal. Barron's third bill, SB 380, would make it illegal to possess any single ingredient with the intent to produce the dangerous drug. The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved the measures Wednesday. They now will go before the Senate for consideration. "Hopefully we can turn this war around," Barron said. "Right now, we're not winning the war, but this is a step." Montgomery County District Attorney Ellen Brooks said the explosive growth in rural areas has yet to hit her area. "Montgomery County has not seen this development, possibly because we are more urban," Brooks said Wednesday. "The surrounding counties are more rural. If you're going to do this type of activity, you're more likely to be secluded to avoid detection." She applauded Barron's proposals, noting that they should bolster judicial authorities' ability to prosecute drug crimes. "I commend Sen. Barron for his efforts in this regard because it's not often that we can catch folks in the act of making these drugs," Brooks said. "It's easier and safer to be able to prosecute for possession of the ingredients and tools rather than the actual act." Randall "R.H." Houston, district attorney for Autauga, Elmore and Chilton counties, said that within the last two months, his office has busted five meth labs in Elmore County alone. "We're all the time chasing the meth dealers and the meth makers," Houston said. "They are springing up all over the place. It's really quite scary." - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom