GOVERNOR'S BILL SEEKS CRACKDOWN ON 'METH'

LOWELL -- The Romney administration is looking to toughen penalties for
possession of methamphetamine, to prevent an epidemic that has swept across
other parts of the nation.

"Right now it's under control, but we're beginning to see early signs. A
lab here a lab there. What we want to do is tighten up our laws in
anticipation of the arrival of this problem. It's not often that you have
the opportunity to get out in front of a coming drug epidemic" Lt. Gov.
Kerry Healey said during a visit to Lowell yesterday.

Meth labs have been discovered in recent weeks in Chelmsford and Lowell.
That pales to the thousands found yearly in some states, but Healey said
Massachusetts could be facing its own problem if it does not act.

Like heroin, methamphetamine is cheap to produce and easy to purchase.
Methamphetamine stimulates certain brain functions, enhancing the user's
mood and body movement. It can be taken orally, by intravenous injection,
by snorting the powder, or by smoking.

The Romney bill would criminalize possession of 45 drugs considered
'precursor' drugs if the person has an intent to produce methamphetamine.
The punishment would be 21 2 years in jail or five years in prison.

In the 2002 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 6.7 percent of
12th-graders and 6.1 percent of 10th-graders answered that they had used
Methamphetamine in their lifetime.

The same survey also found that 3.9 percent of 10th-graders and 3.6 percent
of 12th-graders said they used Methamphetamine annually.