STATE LOOKS TO GET TOUGHER ON METH

It's time to get tough on criminals who manufacture and distribute
methamphetamines says N.C. Attorney General Ray Cooper.

Cooper unveiled a preliminary report last week on the progress N.C. has
made in fighting the epidemic that has, along with prescription drugs,
become one of the main concerns for rural counties.

Though the report stated that N.C. has met the drug challenge with multiple
arrests, on many levels, Cooper says, the state can do more, such as
inflicting harsher penalties, promote more public awareness and education
and better training on the local level.

Among the highlights of the plan, Cooper proposes a shift from probation to
stiffer penalties for making and distributing meth. Too often, defendants
get probation and return to court weeks or even days later with similar
charges.

On the public front, Cooper's report recommends videos, brochures and a
website to educate and offer specialized training for people who are most
likely to come in contact with meth labs. He recommends that landlords and
garbage collectors should be able to identify the "tell-tale signs of a
[meth] lab" from inspecting a tenants garbage.

The report also recommends more serious child endangerment charges instead
of just neglect.

Mitchell County Sheriff Ken Fox said the new plan should help local law
enforcement in their continued efforts to slow down a growing problem.

"Tougher drug laws will only help us and they'll be more of a deterrent to
people making meth if their looking at some prison time rather than
probation," Fox said.

With the arrival of new anti-terrorism laws, some prosecutors have tried to
charge meth manufacturers with producing a weapon of mass destruction, due
to the highly toxic and potentially explosive nature of the ingredients
used to produce the drug. Watauga County District Attorney Jerry Wilson
charged 10 people with producing a weapon of mass destruction in connection
with methamphetamine production. But Superior Court Judge James Baker
dismissed the charges as pertaining to anti-terrorism laws.

Fox believes Bakers dismissal is a sign that the state simply needs
tougher, more clearly stated penalties.

"We have got to hit this problem from both sides," Fox said. "With
education and with harsher penalties."

Fox believes if more people were aware of the ingredients alone, they might
think twice. Meth includes chemicals such as lithium, muriatic acid and red
phosphorus.

"I've been to meetings where I saw people who said 'If I knew what was in
it, I would never have done it,'" he said.