BAUCUS BILL WOULD QUALIFY STATE FOR ANTI-METH AID

U.S. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., Thursday introduced a bill that would
designate Montana as part of the Rocky Mountain High Density Drug
Trafficking Area, making the state eligible for federal funding and
additional personnel to fight the methamphetamine epidemic in Montana.

Baucus petitioned the Office of National Drug Control Policy for the
special designation for Montana, and introduced legislation on the
floor of the Senate Thursday that would provide federal funding to
fight drugs in Montana.

Montana Attorney General Joe Mazurek has said recently that Montana
applied for the HIDTA designation more than a year ago but has not
received approval. Sherry Scheel Matteucci, the U.S. attorney for
Montana, as well as DEA agents working in Montana have publicly stated
their support for adding Montana to the HIDTA.

The lack of this designation was discussed in January when Barry
McCaffrey, director of the White House Office of Drug Control Policy,
and staff members visited Billings. A member of McCaffrey's staff said
then that Montana couldn't be added to the HIDTA unless funding is
available in the fiscal year starting in October.

"We are seeing a very alarming increase of meth use all across rural
America," Baucus told his Senate colleagues. "I'm asking the federal
government to give Montana the resources we need to deal with this
problem before it becomes overwhelming. Methamphetamine is tearing
apart our communities, and I don't want to see another Montanan fall
to this horrible drug."

Baucus' bill would, among other things, allow Montana to increase its
personnel fighting the meth problem by providing funding for three
agents, an intelligence coordinator and a forensic scientist.
Montana's Forensic Science Division has three forensic scientists
working on drug analysis. Their increased workload has led to a
four-month turn-around time for drug analysis, compared with a 25-day
turnaround in 1996.

The bill would also allow Montana to embark on an intensive, statewide
media campaign and hire additional personnel for methamphetamine
prosecution.

Finally, the bill would allow Montana to establish a statewide
criminal intelligence network, which would allow law enforcement
officials in all 56 counties to share information on criminal
activity. Montana is one of only a few states in the nation without
that capability.

"Establishment of this network is critical," Baucus said. "If Montana
law enforcement had been able to effectively share information on in
the past, the meth epidemic may have been far less severe in our state."