BILLS TARGET HOME METH LABS

Efforts Seek To Protect Kids, Raise Penalties For Parents

Colorado would have tough new laws to protect children from methamphetamine
under a proposal unveiled Tuesday at the state Capitol.

Post / Andy Cross Gov. Bill Owens announces three proposed laws Tuesday to
increase methamphetamine penalties, in an effort to protect children who
live in homes with the dangerous drug labs. Gov. Bill Owens announced three
new bills for the upcoming legislative session that increase penalties for
parents who manufacture the illegal drug and for businesses that knowingly
sell the ingredients to make it.

"You can literally manufacture it in a residence, and that's a significant
problem in Colorado," Owens said.

The bills - which already enjoy bipartisan support - would make it felony
child abuse to manufacture drugs in a home with children; let authorities
sue parents in civil court to remove children from meth-lab homes; and make
it a crime to knowingly sell products used in making meth.

It took the scene of SWAT officers carrying children in diapers from meth
labs to bring the issue to the fore, said Lt. Lori Moriarty of the North
Metro Drug Task Force, which concentrates efforts in Adams County. The
raids were detailed in an October Denver Post story.

"Our focus turned, and we realized that one of the most voiceless victims
were the children living in these homes," Moriarty said.

If passed, the new laws would make Colorado a national leader in the war
against meth, Moriarty said. No state has yet passed similar laws.

In the past eight months, Moriarty said, task force officers have removed
11 children as young as 9 months old from homes where parents or
grandparents were making meth.

According to Colorado Bureau of Investigation statistics, 150 meth labs
were found and shut down in 1999. In 2000, there were 264. Last year, 452
were shut down. And 2002 looks to continue the upward trend, officials said.

"It's the drug of choice in Colorado," Owens said.

Methamphetamine, a highly addictive stimulant, can cause confusion,
anxiety, paranoia and violence. It often leads to neglect and abuse of
children who live in homes where it is made.

Dr. Kathryn Wells of the Kempe Children's Center in Denver said more than
50 percent of children taken out of such homes test positive for the drug.
And they are neglected as their parents stay awake for days before crashing.

"They won't eat. They won't sleep. They often won't feed their children,"
Wells said.

The first bill, to be sponsored by Rep. Pam Rhodes, R-Thornton, makes
manufacturing meth in a home with children felony child abuse. A second
bill, sponsored by Rep. Cheri Jahn, D-Wheat Ridge, and Sen. Ken Arnold,
R-Westminster, would allow civil charges against meth parents under neglect
statutes.

"It is not a socioeconomic issue. It is a state issue. It is a societal
issue," Jahn said.

Arapahoe County District Attorney Jim Peters said the bill would allow
prosecutors to get children out of homes more quickly.

A third bill, sponsored by Rep. Tim Fritz, R-Loveland, and Sen. Jim Dyer,
R-Centennial, would make it a misdemeanor to intentionally sell the
ingredients to make meth. But because the ingredients are common, such as
iodine and cold pills, it may be difficult to prosecute, officials
acknowledged.

Yet Peters said sales of large quantities would tip authorities, who could
investigate the intent of the sale. Honest sellers would not be caught in a
dragnet, he said.

Owens estimated the annual cost of the new laws could range from several
hundred thousand dollars up to $2 million for incarceration and enforcement.

Joint Budget Committee member Sen. Peggy Reeves, D-Fort Collins, said she
supports the bills and will work to secure financing despite the state's
$698 million budget shortfall.

The Legislation

Three proposed meth laws:

A bill sponsored by Rep. Pam Rhodes, R-Thornton, would make manufacturing a
controlled substance in the presence of a child a third-degree felony,
punishable by four to 12 years in prison.

A bill sponsored by Rep. Cheri Jahn, D-Wheat Ridge, and Sen. Ken Arnold,
R-Westminster, would allow district attorneys to charge meth-making parents
in civil court, lowering the burden of proof and making it easier to remove
children from meth-lab homes.

A bill sponsored by Rep. Tim Fritz, R-Loveland, and Sen. Jim Dyer,
R-Centennial, would make knowingly selling chemicals used to make
methamphetamine a misdemeanor crime with a $10,000 fine.