SENATE OKS STIFFER PENALTIES FOR METH

Proposal would require manufacturers of drug to serve prison time

RALEIGH - The N.C.  Senate voted to crack down on the spread of methamphetamines Tuesday, approving a plan to require prison time for meth manufacturers who could get by with a probationary sentence under current law.

Under the proposal, meth manufacturers would serve at least three years and eight months in prison.  The plan lets judges impose harsher sentences if children live or are found at the site of a meth lab.  Those who are found with meth ingredients and who are suspected of making it could face prison time.  And if anyone dies in a meth explosion, the meth manufacturer could be charged with second degree murder.

"This bill addresses what has become the number one enemy in the war on drugs," said Sen.  Walter Dalton, D-Rutherford, whose district has been plagued with labs.

The Senate passed the plan unanimously and plans to confirm the decision in a procedural vote today.  Sen.  Virginia Foxx, R-Watauga, said she might try to include an amendment today that would make the penalty greater if a firefighter or law enforcement officer is injured.  House members also must agree to the plan.

The vote was celebrated by law enforcement officials and emergency responders, including Darren South, a volunteer firefighter from Deep Gap, just east of Boone.  Fumes from a meth lab seared South's lungs last year, taking away 45 percent of his lung capacity.

South told lawmakers last week they should do anything they can to stop meth manufacturers.

"I want to make sure children don't have to go through with this," South said.  "Their lungs are a lot smaller than mine."

Lawmakers are stiffening the penalties under a push from Attorney General Roy Cooper, who says meth, unlike other drugs, damages neighborhoods as easily as it does the drug users and makers.  Chemicals used in cooking meth, such as brake fluid and ammonia, make occupants and neighbors sick, and the labs can easily catch fire or explode.

Sheriffs and leaders of the State Bureau of Investigation complain that meth busts tie down their officers and strap their budgets.  Officers spend hours, sometimes days, cleaning up chemicals.

And the problem is growing.  North Carolina shut down 177 meth labs last year and already has broken up 129 in 2004.  The state found only 9 labs in 1999.

Cooper, a Democrat, wants about $16 million for agents as well as chemists and new lab space to test chemicals found during busts, but he might not get all he wants this year.  Democratic Gov.  Mike Easley has requested $1.2 million, mostly for hiring agents.

A pair of senators, including Sen.  Fern Shubert, R-Union, questioned a provision last week that would let state health officials make rules that would determine when people could move back into a former meth lab.  Shubert and Sen.  Hugh Webster, R-Alamance, worried that landlords, hotel owners and others could lose their livelihoods if health officials get stuck in red tape.

More Online

To read "Meth in the Mountains," the Observer's series on Carolinas methamphetamine labs, go to: www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/news/photos/8242554.htm