BILL AIMS TO INFLATE DRUG USE PENALTIES

A state lawmaker said Friday that he will introduce a bill aimed at people
who use illegal drugs in the presence of children and teenagers in their care.

Assemblyman Greg Aghazarian, R-Stockton, is acting at the request of Linda
Taylor of Turlock, who said too many young people suffer when adults around
them use drugs.

The bill would mandate felony child-abuse charges if parents, guardians or
other people used drugs while caring for anyone under 18.

"The whole idea is if you have some responsibility for a child and you are
doing drugs in front of that child, that should be a felony," said
Aghazarian, whose district includes part of Stanislaus County. "It shocks
the conscience that this is not a felony already."

The bill could be introduced in the Assembly in about three weeks, said
Gail Delihunt, legislative director for Aghazarian.

Drug use generally is treated as a misdemeanor under state law, with
penalties that can include jail time, probation, fines and treatment
programs. Drug sales and manufacturing can bring felony charges and state
prison time.

Existing penalties for felony child abuse carry up to six years in prison,
according to the California Penal Code.

A felony child-abuse charge is an option already if a parent or guardian is
endangering children by using drugs, a spokesman for the Stanislaus County
Sheriff's Department said earlier.

Taylor said she wants to counter what she sees as a movement to "legalize
drugs in increments," evident in Proposition 36, approved by the state's
voters in 2000. The proposition mandated treatment rather than jail time
for many convicted users.

Taylor was a leader in the successful effort to build the Turlock Skate
Park, a cause she took up after her teenage son, Anthony, was cited for
illegal skateboarding.

She said the skate park campaign brought her in contact with young people
who told her "horror stories" about parents hooked on drugs. She said a
Ceres girl told her that she cuts her arm with a knife for "stress relief
from the fact that her mom uses meth."

Taylor wrote state and federal lawmakers last summer with her proposal for
child-abuse charges. She said Friday that she no longer is seeking federal
legislation, but would like other states to enact such laws.

"If you have the care, custody and control of children, you don't have the
right to use drugs," she said. "I don't care who you are."