Opposition
to
Meth
Bill
Mounting
6/9/00
(from the Drug Policy Foundation's Network News, June 2000, http://www/dpf.org) House bill H.R. 2987, designed to crack down on the production and distribution of methamphetamines, faces growing opposition over some of its key provisions. A number of national organizations have criticized the bill for its sweeping attacks on civil liberties, including the ACLU, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Even the American Booksellers Association has warned that the legislation could have a chilling effect on free speech. The bill, known as the Methamphetamine Anti-Proliferation Act, makes it a federal crime to teach or demonstrate the manufacture of a controlled substance, or to distribute by any means information pertaining to the manufacture or use of a controlled substance. Designed to outlaw online recipes for making methamphetamines, the bill's provisions are so vague that almost any drug-related speech could be subject to federal prosecution. Even harm-reduction advocates who distribute information on how to grow medical marijuana, or how to use heroin more safely, could potentially face up to ten years in federal prison. The bill would also make it a federal crime to directly or indirectly advertise drug paraphernalia. Linking one's web site to a web site that sells drug paraphernalia, or e-mailing a friend the phone number or web address of a store that sells drug paraphernalia could get a person three years in federal prison. Even mentioning in this article that http://www.bongs.com has information about purchasing marijuana water pipes would be a potential federal crime under this legislation. Additionally, the bill would allow federal law enforcement officers to search people's homes while they're not there and copy their computer files without notifying them for months, possibly years, that the police were in their homes. H.R. 2987 would also apply the same stiff mandatory minimums that apply to methamphetamines to amphetamines, as well as appropriating millions of dollars for counter-narcotics operations around the country. Similar legislation has already passed the Senate, and the House Judiciary Committee will likely consider the legislation in June. There is some movement in the House to take out some of the most horrendous provisions of this legislation. Representative Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) is considering offering an amendment to the bill that would remove the portions affecting drug-related speech or at least provide that speech normally protected by the First Amendment be exempted. Representative Bob Barr (R-GA) is considering offering an amendment to the bill that would remove the provisions allowing law enforcement officers to search homes and computers without informing the owners. Provisions similar to those in H.R. 2987 are also in the Senate's version of the bankruptcy bill which was passed in February. The House passed a version which did not contain them. The next step in the legislative process is a conference committee where House and Senate negotiators try to reconcile differences in each bill and produce a final version. Due to an unrelated partisan dispute, conference members have not yet been appointed.
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