Pubdate: Wed, 17 Aug 2005
Source: Edmonton Examiner, The (CN AB)
Copyright: The Edmonton Examiner 2005
Contact:  http://www.edmontonexaminer.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1837
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

MORE ACTION NEEDED TO FIGHT CRYSTAL METH

Don't think for a second that Edmonton's lowlife drug pushers are quaking 
in their boots now that the federal government has increased the penalties 
for dealing crystal meth.

The fact that the maximum sentence for trafficking methamphetamine has 
jumped from 10 years to life in prison will do little to slow the 
increasing popularity of this easy-to-produce and highly-addictive drug.

Life sentences sound tough, but without backing from judges, they are 
little more than empty threats.

It is extremely doubtful any court in the land will be imposing the maximum 
sentence on a crystal meth peddler. People caught trafficking cocaine or 
heroin face similar penalties, and they don't typically warrant life 
sentences. Nor, for that matter, do people charged with break and entering, 
another offence that carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.

That's not to say the new meth sentencing guidelines should be completely 
dismissed.

At least the feds are recognizing the increasing proliferation of 
methamphetamine -- which is not only cheap but can be smoked, snorted, 
swallowed or injected - is a serious problem.

But, to best convey the message to the criminal elements as well as the 
public that the government means business, the new measures should have 
also included guidelines for minimum sentences, ensuring crystal meth 
dealers spend at least a few years behind bars for a first offence rather 
than being let off easy at a judge's discretion.

Tough sentencing, however, is just a first step.

To really make an impact on the spread of crystal meth, the government has 
to follow through on more aggressive legislation designed to control 
production of the drug.

The main reason meth use is spreading like cancer is that the drug can 
easily be manufactured in small, portable labs using products that can be 
legally purchased. The main ingredient is pseudoephedrine, a common element 
found in cold remedies, which is then combined with items such as paint 
thinner, ammonia, and iodine.

Laws need to be put in place so that merchants have to report when large 
quantities of these ingredients are purchased. And, although these products 
are legal to use by themselves, police need to be given the power to seize 
these items and press charges when it is obvious the ingredients are being 
used in a lab, even if no final product has been made.

The bottom line is to give law enforcement officials the tools they need to 
keep as much crystal meth off the street as possible.
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MAP posted-by: Beth