METH CONTROL LEGISLATION

THE earliest precursor to the modern drugs known as methamphetamines,
Benzedrine, was invented by Nazi scientists and given to Luftwaffe pilots
to keep them awake on the way back to Germany after bombing England.
Methamphetamines have continued to destroy societies ever since that
illustrious beginning, and no place has been more ravaged by the drugs than
California.

That's why the California Legislature is to be commended for its continuing
fight against methamphetamines, known better by the street names speed,
crystal and crank. More than a dozen anti-methamphetamine bills are pending
in the Legislature, and virtually all of them deserve support.

Under Assembly Bill 577, methamphetamine found in the system of a child
removed from a home where meth is produced would be proof of injury to a
child, and could lead to criminal charges and action by child protective
services.

Under Senate Bill 1103, anyone found under the influence of meth with a
loaded gun would go to jail.

A proposal by Assemblyman Dennis Cardoza, D-Merced, would increase prison
sentences for crimes involving methamphetamines committed near schools.

Meth is more physically destructive to the human system than heroin or
alcohol. Byproducts from meth labs include acids and poisonous phosphorus,
which have killed plant and animal life and contaminated wells and
groundwater. Methamphetamines can cause paranoia and hallucinations when a
user is under the influence and when he or she is withdrawing from the drug.

The state should make treatment programs available for all who seek it, and
for those who cannot or will not seek help, a forced separation from the
drug, in the form of incarceration, is appropriate. The Legislature is on
the right track.

The North County Times, San Diego, Editorial