HATCH BILL THAT STIFFENS DRUG PENALTIES IS OK'D

The Senate sounded a bugle-call charge Wednesday to escalate the war on
drugs by adopting sweeping legislation by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.

On a close 50-49 vote, it approved a wide array of new legal weapons
against methamphetamine labs; stiffened penalties for selling drugs near
schools or to minors; reduced disparity in punishments for selling powder
and crack cocaine; and banned posting recipes for illegal drugs on the
Internet. "Drug use is a poisonous, nationwide epidemic," Hatch told the
Senate. "We must fight this plague for the sake of our children and our
grandchildren.

The Senate attached Hatch's somewhat controversial anti-drug legislation to
a popular bill to overhaul bankruptcy laws. A similar bankruptcy bill
passed the House 313-108 in May.

Most Republicans voted for Hatch's Senate amendment, while most Democrats
opposed it.

An example of the split between parties on how to address drugs came in
different proposals on how to adjust penalties for selling crack and power
cocaine.

Laws passed at the height of the crack epidemic mandate a five-year minimum
prison sentence for selling just 5 grams of crack. But under current law, a
dealer would have to sell 500 grams of powder cocaine to receive the same
penalty.

As Hatch noted to the Senate, many "believe that the harsher penalties for
crack cocaine generally unfairly affect minority Americans and the poor"
because they tend to buy the cheaper crack. So both parties sought to
narrow the gap.

Hatch's bill reduces it by toughening penalties for selling powder --
mandating five years in prison for selling just 50 grams. But Democrats
wanted to narrow the gap by making sentences for crack dealers more lenient.

Hatch said the Democrats' proposal to reduce crack penalties "would send
absolutely the wrong message to the American people, especially given the
disturbing increase in teenage drug use during much of the Clinton
administration."

However, the American Civil Liberties Union attacked Hatch's measure,
saying it "would pack the federal prisons with thousands of nonviolent
offenders and force taxpayers to foot the bill."

Hatch said his amendment provides especially needed provisions to stiffen
penalties for manufacturing methamphetamine -- also known as meth, speed,
crank or ice -- which is often made from legal chemicals through dangerous
procedures in labs at homes or motels. "The smallest amounts of these
chemicals, when mixed improperly, can cause explosions and fires," Hatch
said. They also create toxic wastes that have cost millions of dollars to
clean.

"In Utah alone, there were 266 lab seizures last year, a number which
elevated Utah to the unenviable position of being ranked third in the
nation for highest per capita clandestine lab seizures," Hatch said.

Hatch said stiffening the penalties -- plus authorizing more Drug
Enforcement Agency officers to help fight meth -- should slow the growth.
He noted that the number of meth labs seized has almost doubled each year
since 1995.

The bill also beefs up penalties for selling drugs near schools or to
minors, requires federally funded schools to expel students who sell drugs
or have large amounts on school grounds, and bans advertising drug
paraphernalia or recipes for illegal drugs on the Internet.

It also contains an interesting non-drug provision. It requires the FBI to
prepare a study on what threat may be posed by President Clinton's recent
grant of clemency to convicted Puerto Rican terrorists.

Hatch complained that the administration has not responded well to requests
for information about threats by the group.

He said his amendment ensures "that the FBI can fully assess this risk, and
that the Congress and the American people are fully apprised of the FBI's
findings."