OFFICIALS SEEK TO CURB DRUG 'MENACE'

The Abuse And Manufacture Of Methamphetamines Grow, Leading To Tougher
Proposals

Law officers and prosecutors from across the state gathered in Richmond
yesterday to learn more about how to quell the growth of methamphetamine
manufacturing and trafficking in Virginia.

The Methamphetamine Leadership Summit was sponsored at the Greater Richmond
Convention Center by the state's two U.S. attorneys, Paul J. McNulty of the
Eastern District and John L. Brownlee of the Western District, and by
Virginia Attorney General Jerry W. Kilgore.

Brownlee said methamphetamine problems are becoming especially bad in
Southwest Virginia - a region also afflicted by trafficking and abuse of
OxyContin the past few years - but methamphetamine abuse and manufacturing
appear to be spreading across the state.

Brownlee said the problem is being worsened by a false rumor that
methamphetamine, which itself can be addictive with only one dose, can cure
an OxyContin addiction.

Kilgore said authorities in Virginia have so far this year shut down 78
"meth labs," where traffickers use highly toxic and flammable chemicals to
manufacture methamphetamine from over-the-counter cold medicines. That is
more than double the 34 labs shut down in 2003.

Kilgore has already said he will propose legislation in the coming General
Assembly to double minimum prison terms for making methamphetamine to 10
years and to make it a crime to make methamphetamine in the presence of a
child. Both those crimes would be punishable by prison terms of 10 to 40 years.

He also wants to establish guidelines for cleaning up after a
methamphetamine lab is shut down, with the offenders paying for it.
Leftover chemical contamination of apartments or houses where
methamphetamine has been manufactured can harm the next tenants, especially
small children, authorities said.

"This is a good time to bring our law-enforcement community together to
address the problem of methamphetamine in Virginia," McNulty said
yesterday. "Meth not only destroys the lives of people who use it, but it
also destroys families and can create a menace in our communities."