USE OF ANTITERROR LAW DEBATED

Charges In Meth Case Have Counties Curious

WINSTON-SALEM (AP) -- Following the lead of Watauga County, district
attorneys in North Carolina are considering using antiterrorism laws to
prosecute accused methamphetamine producers. Watauga County District
Attorney Jerry Wilson last week charged a man accused of running a
methamphetamine lab with violating state laws involving the manufacture of
nuclear or chemical weapons. The statute, passed in November 2001 , was
meant to deal with terrorists and carries a stiffer sentence than most drug
laws.

"We sat down and began looking for something more that we could use as a
weapon against these people, and that's the statute we found," said Wilson,
whose county has had 24 meth labs raided this year.

Forsyth County District Attorney Tom Keith said his office's policy now is
that "we will put B1 felonies on anyone having anything to do with
methamphetamines. These things are very dangerous."

B1 felonies carry sentences ranging from 12 years to life in prison.

Martin Dwayne Miller, 24, of Todd is slated to be prosecuted under the
antiterrorism laws.

Miller, who was arrested July 11, was charged with two counts of
manufacturing a nuclear or chemical weapon in connection with charges
relating to methamphetamine production. Even if Miller were convicted of
the most serious drug charge against him, he might have served only six
months in prison, Wilson said.

To link the drug's production to chemical weapons, prosecutors referred to
the toxic and combustible nature of the chemicals involved in
methamphetamine production. They said that police officers and firefighters
who respond to calls involving the drug are at risk of serious injury.

Keith said the use of the antiterrorism law to stop the growth of
methamphetamine laboratories is necessary to prevent problems that have
plagued other states.

Several defense lawyers reacted to Wilson's decision with a mix of
skepticism and concern for the rights of the accused.

"It seems to me to be a real stretch of the imagination, that this would be
covered under the antiterrorism law," said Wallace Harrelson, Guilford
County's public defender. "It seems to me that the antiterrorism law was
designed with a specific purpose in mind, to prosecute people who are
threatening to hurt the safety of the general public."