METH LAW CHANGES IN PATRIOT ACT

FOREST CITY -- Many provisions of the USA Patriot Act that was
signed into law Thursday by President George W. Bush will have a
direct impact on the battle against meth in Rutherford County.

The U.S. House passed the Patriot Act Additional Reauthorizing
Amend-ments Act of 2006 by a vote of 280 to 138 on Tues-day.
Congressman Patrick McHenry (R-Cherryville) celebrated a victory when
a methamphetamine measure that he introduced was signed into law.

Section 419a of the law states "Whoever violates section 401(a)(1) by
manufacturing or distributing, or possessing with intent to
manufacture or distribute, methamphetamine or its salts, isomers or
salts of isomers on premises in which an individual who is under the
age of 18 years is present or resides, shall, in add-ition to any
other sentence imposed, be imprisoned for a period of any term of
years but not more than 20 years, subject to a fine, or both." The
measure will be in-serted into the Comprehen-sive Drug Abuse
Prevention and Control Act of 1970 along with a measure that requires
"consecutive sentences for manufacturing or distributing, or
possessing with intent to manufacture or distribute, methamphetamine
on premises where children are present or reside." "Methamphetamine
use is a growing problem across our region and a clear and present
danger to our children, as more and more young lives are destroyed by
this deadly drug," McHenry said in a press release. "My meth bill
comes as the result of meeting with local sheriffs and drug
enforcement officials last year to discuss solutions to the meth
problem. The president's signature today is a step forward in the
fight to curb meth's destructive influence in our streets and
communities." Congressman McHenry is the Vice Chairman of the House
Government Reform Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and
Human Resources. He has taken an active role in crafting legislation
to deal with this growing problem. "Children are the silent victims of
our nation's meth epidemic," said McHenry. "This provision toughens
the law against some of our nation's worst criminals, the offenders
who make this drug around children. I am going on the offensive
against meth's hold in our region because our communities deserve to
be safe, healthy and secure." The law also specifies several other
channels to deal with the meth epidemic throughout the country.

One of the most important new restrictions will be on the sale of
ephedrine and pseudoephedrine products that is similar to a law passed
last year in North Carolina and several other states.

However, the North Carolina law is more restrictive. The federal law
will prohibit anyone from purchasing more than 3.6 grams a day Both
laws will require customers to register and show a valid I.D. to
purchase the cold medication. Stores will monitor sales and records
information that can easily be accessed by police.

The act will allocated $99 million a year for the next five years to
areas that are designated as hot spots to continue efforts between
federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to battle meth.

Sheriff C. Philip Byers said that Rutherford County will qualify for
the hot spot designation.

"This will go a long way in helping us deal with meth," said Byers.
"We will try our best to get any federal assistance we can get. I
would like to get help for those 25 children taken from meth homes
last year." The act also provides $20 million for Drug Endangered Kids
programs during 2006 and 2007.

The Rutherford County Drug Endangered Children will attempt to get
some grant money to aid children who have been removed from homes
where meth was uncovered. The new law also requires a biannual report
to Congress from the Attorney General about the allocation of money to
the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Federal Bureau of Investigation
for meth investigations and prosecutions. The law also makes
adjustments to: n Increase the punishment for meth king pins; n
Improves bilateral efforts at the United States-Mexico border to
prevent the smuggling of methamphetamine into the United States from
Mexico; n seek to work with Mexican law enforcement authorities to
improve the ability of such authorities to combat the production and
trafficking of methamphetamine, including by providing equipment and
technical assistance, as appropriate; and n encourage the Government
of Mexico to take immediate action to reduce the diversion of
pseudoephedrine by drug trafficking organizations for the production
and trafficking of methamphetamine.