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Newsbrief:
Michigan
Lawmakers
Introduce
Anti-Methamphetamine
Package,
Includes
Life
in
Prison
for
1,000
Grams
7/25/03
Methamphetamine mania continues
its march across the land on the heels of the drug's slow but steady spread
from West to East. Last week, Michigan became the latest state to
entertain tough new legislation aimed at cracking down on meth. Cheered
on by mid-state law enforcement and prosecutors, state Sen. Patty Birkholz
(R-Saugatuck) introduced a three-bill anti-meth package that would increase
penalties for methamphetamine possession, delivery or manufacture on July
17.
Under current Michigan law,
any methamphetamine offense is punishable by up to 10 years in prison,
but Birkholz' package would increase those penalties, all the way up to
life in prison for possession of 1000 grams (one kilogram, 2.2 pounds)
of the homemade stimulant. That would mean that meth crimes would
be punished as severely as similar cocaine and heroin offenses. The
package would also make theft of anhydrous ammonia, used in some meth cooking
formulas, a specific crime, punishable by up to five years in prison.
According to figures from
the Michigan State Police, authorities busted 206 meth labs last year,
double the number from the previous year, and have already busted another
104 in the first five months of this year. Those numbers helped Birkholz
and her chorus of lawman supporters hype the threat. "This has become
the cocaine of the 21st Century," Birkholz told a press conference announcing
the bills. "It's moving... what we want to do is stop it in its tracks."
"The problem with this drug
is you have the ability to make it in your house and all the things you
need to make it are in your local grocery store," chimed in Eaton County
Assistant Prosecutor Douglas Lloyd said. "This has become a major
cancer and it's spreading," he said. But not only is methamphetamine
the new cocaine and a cancer, it is also a menace -- just ask Easton County
Sheriff Rick Jones. "It's a growing menace and we'll do everything
we can to combat it," he said.
The package of three bills
had not yet been posted at the Michigan legislative web site (http://www.michiganlegislature.org)
as of press time.
-- END --
|
Issue #297, 7/25/03
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Newsbrief: Spanish Government Okays Heroin Maintenance in Catalonia |
Newsbrief: Dr. Strangelove, Please Call Home -- Connecticut Scientists Compile Marijuana DNA Database to Track Trafficking |
Newsbrief: Michigan Lawmakers Introduce Anti-Methamphetamine Package, Includes Life in Prison for 1,000 Grams |
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