MANDATORY SENTENCES IN METH CASES PROPOSED

Methamphetamine cooks and dealers in Missouri could face mandatory
minimum sentencing for the first time ever, under proposals discussed
Tuesday by U.S. Sen. Jim Talent, R-Mo., and Peter Kinder, the
Republican candidate for lieutenant governor. Speaking to reporters at
Rosecrans Memorial Airport, Mr. Talent said he would file the "most
comprehensive methamphetamine legislation ever introduced into
Congress" in January.

The bill would provide $47 million toward the fight against meth,
including $5 million for a two-state pilot program that would require
those states to enact mandatory minimum sentences for the manufacture
and sale of methamphetamine.

Current federal guidelines call for five years in prison for
possession of 5 grams of the drug. Although it is consistently ranked
as one of the top meth-producing states in the country, Missouri has
no minimum sentences for meth production or distribution.

Mr. Talent said his bill has not been finalized but would require "at
least a couple of years" in prison upon conviction.

The bill also would provide money for increased police training, as
well as prevention and treatment programs.

"Mandatory sentences are not the only thing we can do, but they are a
vital part," Mr. Talent said.

Mr. Kinder, the outgoing president pro tem of the Missouri Senate,
said that as lieutenant governor he would push for complementary
legislation at the state level.

Citing statistics from the Missouri Sentencing Advisory Commission, he
said only 19 percent of drug dealers and manufacturers convicted of
Class A felonies served any time last year.

At Tuesday's press conference, Platte County Prosecutor Eric Zahnd
said his office frequently sends meth cases to be tried at the federal
level, where a more severe penalty is possible. He said that meth is
worse than other drugs, causing "hyperparanoia" in users.

"There's one place those folks need to be to safeguard a community,
and that's behind bars," Mr. Zahnd said.

Mr. Talent said that while his bill would fund treatment programs, he
said there is currently "no reliable medical model for treating"
methamphetamine addiction.

"The only hope they have to get off this drug is to be clean for a
sustained period of time, and several years in jail actually can do
that," Mr. Talent said. "It may be the only thing that can do that."