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Newsbrief:
Colorado
Bill
Equating
Meth
Manufacture
and
Child
Abuse
Moves
Forward
1/31/03
Colorado politicians and
law enforcement representatives are moving quickly to pass new laws targeting
home manufacture of methamphetamines. As DRCNet reported in December,
Colorado lawmakers have crafted a three-bill package that would make meth
manufacture de facto evidence of child abuse, make it easier for state
authorities to remove children from homes of suspected meth cooks, and
make it a misdemeanor to "knowingly" sell chemicals used to make methamphetamine
(http://www.drcnet.org/wol/269.html#homemethlabs).
One of those bills, HB003-1004, sponsored by Rep. Pam Rhodes (R-Thornton),
unanimously passed the House Judiciary Committee on January 23 and is now
headed for the Appropriations Committee.
HB003-1004, the bill that
would make it felony child abuse to manufacture meth in a home where children
are present, passed in committee after legislators heard horror stories
from law enforcement personnel. Lt. Lori Moriarty of the North Metro
Drug Task Force told the panel of children being found in meth lab homes
with rotted teeth or none at all after ingesting meth or its ingredients
kept in soda pop bottles in refrigerators. "Our bodies were not meant
to digest Coleman fuel or lighter fluid," said Moriarty. "We really
need felony charges for this crime." HB003-1004 would impose penalties
of up to 12 years in prison for violators.
According to Colorado legislative
analysts, there were six people charged with child abuse in connection
with meth manufacture in each of the last three years. Those same
analysts, who did a required fiscal impact study, found that even though
the bill would not increase the number of prisoners (meth cooks are already
charged with felonies), it would increase the sentences of those charged
from an average of 39 months to 92 months. Such a move would cost
the state $827,000 in additional corrections spending in the next five
years, the analysts reported.
Those anticipated costs may
slow the momentum of the bill in the House Appropriations Committee, whose
members are grappling with withering budget problems.
To read the bill, the financial
impact analysis, and supporting documentation, go to http://www.leg.state.co.us
and search for HB003-1004.
-- END --
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Issue #274, 1/31/03
The Road to Mérida: Interviews with Participants in the "Out from the Shadows" Campaign | Road to Mérida: Dr. Silvia Inchaurraga, Argentine Harm Reductionist | Road to Mérida: Sala Errata | Ed Rosenthal Convicted, Faces 10-Year Mandatory Minimum for Oakland Medical Marijuana Grow | Bush Treatment Initiative Draws Mixed Reviews from Reformers | Into the Morass: Green Berets in Colombia as "War on Drugs" Morphs into "War on Terror" | Drug Czar Says Nevada Election Laws Don't Apply to His Politicking | Latin American Anti-Prohibition Conference, Feb. 12-15, Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico | Cumbre Internacional Sobre Legalización, 15-Dec Febrero, Mérida, México | Cúpula Internacional sobre Legalização, 15-Dec de Fevereiro, Mérida, México | Newsbrief: Violence Continues as Talks Begin in Bolivia -- Coca Growers, Workers, Indians Present Demands | Newsbrief: DEA Moving to Schedule Two More Hallucinogens | Newsbrief: Utah Drugged Driving Bill on the Move | Newsbrief: Colorado Bill Equating Meth Manufacture and Child Abuse Moves Forward | Newsbrief: Asian Drug Abolition Mania Spreading -- Malaysia Calls for "Total War," Drug Free Southeast Asia by 2015 | Newsbrief: This Week's Corrupt Cop Story | Newsbrief: Judge Kane Speaks Out Again, Lambasts Federal Drug War | DC Job Opportunity at DRCNet -- Campus Coordinator | The Reformer's Calendar
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