BILL ON METH-RELATED CRIME GAINS

Legislation Would Stiffen Penalties For Those Convicted Of Offenses
Associated With Drug

[ SBI agents found chemicals used to make methamphetamine in and around
this house in Deep Gap that burned in January 2003. Journal File Photo]

On a Sunday night in January 2003, the Deep Gap Volunteer Fire
Department responded to the report of a fire in its corner of Watauga
County.

Darien South, a firefighter in the department, hasn't been the same
since. His eyesight is impaired, he has problems with short-term
memory, and he has lost half of his lung capacity.

"There's not many things I can do anymore," South said.

The fire involved a laboratory for making methamphetamine, an
addictive and very strong stimulant. The drug is made from explosive
chemicals, and its spread across the state is getting legislators'
attention as fumes and fires injure more emergency workers,
drug-makers and children.

"I'm a walking miracle," South said yesterday during a hearing of an
N.C. Senate judiciary committee. "I'm evidence of what meth can do."

The committee later gave its approval to a bill that would increase
the penalties for those found guilty of methamphetamine-related crimes.

The bill would allow authorities to charge someone with second-degree
murder if they distributed methamphetamine to someone who then died
from the drug. It would also increase the amount of prison time for
those caught making the drug - especially for making the drug while
children are present.

The full Senate is expected to vote on the bill today or Thursday. If
approved, as expected, the bill would move to the House for
consideration.

N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper praised the bill. He told senators
that the number of methamphetamine labs found by state agents has
increased from nine in 1999 to 177 in 2003.

As of Monday, the state had found 129 labs this year, compared with 68
at the same point last year.

Cooper said that increased efforts by law enforcement have contributed
to the increase in arrests, but that the problem is growing. He said
that there could be thousands of such labs in the state.

"It's going on right in your back yard," he said. "It happens in the
apartment next door. It happens down the hall. It even happens in a
hotel room in a hotel where you may be staying."

Cooper said that methamphetamine poses a unique law-enforcement
problem because labs can be small enough to fit in suitcases, and the
drug is made from such household products as brake fluid and
over-the-counter antihistamines.

Separate from the bill, Cooper and Gov. Mike Easley are asking the
General Assembly to approve 14 new positions to fight methamphetamine.
The positions would cost a total of $700,000 a year.

Sponsors of the bill that was debated yesterday also pointed to the
environmental effects of making the drug. Cooper said that making
methamphetamine creates 5 to 6 pounds of toxic waste for every pound
of the drug, and cleaning up the waste can be a long, expensive process.

Sheriff Mark Shook of Watauga County also traveled to Raleigh
yesterday to support the bill. Many of the methamphetamine labs have
been in Watauga County as use of the drug has migrated east from Tennessee.

Shook said he has seen 3-month-old babies in homes where
methamphetamine was being made. He also said he has heard of a
first-grade student telling his teacher how to cook
methamphetamine.

The drug, he said, is a problem for entire communities.

"Today's your storm-warning, and there's nowhere to run, and it's on
its way," Shook said.