METH-PENALTIES BILL SUPPORTED

Albuquerque police and prosecutors are hoping the state Legislature, in its
waning hours, will push through a bill boosting the potential prison time
for those caught dealing methamphetamine.

They're also hoping the governor would give the final OK to such a bill.

Gov. Gary Johnson has been behind several drug reform bills this session
that would, among other things, decriminalize possession of small amounts
of marijuana and make first and second drug-possession offenses
misdemeanors instead of felonies. But Johnson's top law-enforcement
officer, state Department of Public Safety head Nick Bakas, said Friday
that he and Johnson both believe using drugs and dealing them are two very
different issues.

"Addiction needs to be addressed in a clinical setting, not a cellblock
setting," Bakas said. But "dealing is a crime. You need to deal with
dealers in a criminal context. Methamphetamine dealers - these are the
types of individuals we need to take off the street."

The methamphetamine bill, sponsored by Rep. Henry "Kiki" Saavedra,
D-Albuquerque, passed the House by unanimous vote and was pending in the
Senate on Friday afternoon, Saavedra said. This year's legislative session
ends at noon today.

Bernalillo County Deputy District Attorney Mark Drebing, who handles drug
cases, said under current law, first-time methamphetamine dealing is
classified as a third-degree felony and carries a standard prison sentence
of three years. He said those convicted of first-time heroin and cocaine
dealing, however, are guilty of a second-degree felony and face a standard
prison sentence of nine years.

Drebing said the proposed law would simply boost the punishment for
methamphetamine dealing into the same felony category as cocaine and heroin
dealing.

For those caught dealing methamphetamine a second or subsequent time, the
bill specifies those crimes would be first-degree felonies. Drebing said a
first-degree felony conviction carries a mandatory prison sentence of 18 years.

Saavedra said in a telephone interview on Friday that "we should be on top
of this drug from its source. It's one of the worst drugs ever made." He
said in his South Valley district, methamphetamine labs are "growing up
left and right. It's ruining the kids."

Methamphetamine is commonly known as speed or meth. The drug is a strong,
crystallized derivative of amphetamine, a stimulant. It can lead to anger,
violence and hallucinations in its users.

One of the most notorious cases in New Mexico that allegedly involved the
drug was that of Eric Starr Smith, who pleaded no contest in 1997 to
stabbing his 14-year-old son 60 times and hacking off his head along
Interstate 40. Before the July 1995 killing, Smith had allegedly taken
meth. He allegedly told investigators he killed the boy because he thought
his son was the devil. Smith was sentenced to life in prison.

Those involved in the meth scene in the Albuquerque area have caused plenty
of problems for local law officers in recent years. Several homicides,
including at least one that remains unsolved, have alleged links to the drug.

Albuquerque Police Chief Jerry Galvin and Bernalillo County District
Attorney Kari Brandenburg said Friday they're both in favor of boosting the
potential punishment for those who peddle meth.

"That's a more dangerous drug than cocaine or heroin," Galvin said. He said
he recalls coming on an incident while serving as police chief in Vallejo,
Calif., where two men under the influence of methamphetamine got into a
shootout.

"The police units are arriving, but they don't stop shooting at each other.
It made no difference to them," Galvin said. The drug "clouds the mind so
much. ... Reason and sanity do not prevail."