HATCH BILL WOULD HELP COPS STOP METH LABSMAKERS

After watching methamphetamine crimes take off in Utah, Sen. Orrin Hatch is
taking a new bill to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that may
help law-enforcement officers fight the problem.

"In Utah alone, there were 266 lab seizures last year," Hatch said in a
press release. "The problem with the high number of manufacturing labs is
compounded by the fact that the chemicals and substances [used] in the
manufacturing process are unstable, volatile and highly combustible."

The new bill proposes the following:

- -- Hiring more Drug Enforcement Agency agents to assist officers in small
and mid-size communities. -- Expanding current DEA offices because they are
overwhelmed by methamphetamine investigations. -- Providing money to train
officers in investigating meth and staying safe while doing so. -- Banning
the dissemination of drug recipes -- including on the Internet. -- Including
communication devices, such as the Internet, in the anti-drug paraphernalia
statute that bans advertising drug sales. -- Imposing harsher penalties on
drug manufacturers whose mere presence endangers others or the environment.

DEA Det. Jeff Payne, who specializes in methamphetamine labs, said Utah has
the highest amount of meth lab busts per capita in the United States, and
that number is growing.

"Back in '91, '92, if you got a lab, that was something else," he said in a
recent interview. "Now we're online for 250 to 300 this year."

West Valley City police Lt. Charles Illsley has said meth is "the worst
crime scene we've encountered."

Because the chemicals are readily available and recipes are easy to get,
police officers are finding labs set up by people who do not know how
chemicals interact. This can mean hazardous fumes, fires and explosions.

U.S. Attorney Paul Warner, who will speak before the Senate Committee on
Wednesday, said he supports the bill because the increase in meth has led to
an increase in other crimes.

Often, he said, addicts will steal checks, mail or credit cards to pay for
their habit. Police say more people are robbing convenience stores and gas
stations for a quick $10 so they can get their drug.

"In talking with law-enforcement agencies, many report that violent
offenses, such as aggravated assaults, domestic violence and assaults on
police officers have increased in proportion to the rise of meth use,"
Warner said. "A few years ago, many rural counties told us that assaults on
a police officer were relatively unheard of. Now they are charging more than
a dozen assaults a year -- nearly all by persons under the influence of meth."

Hatch said he sponsored the bill because meth affects more than just the
addict. Millions of dollars are spent every year cleaning up toxic chemicals
left by labs. If those labs are in apartments, the building owner has no
choice but to pay for the cleanup.