LAWMAKER SEEKS TOUGHER PUNISHMENT FOR 'METH' TRAFFICKING

HARRISONBURG, Va. -- Alarmed by a rise in methamphetamine traffic in the
Shenandoah Valley, police and a newly elected state senator are seeking
tougher penalties for dealers of the stimulant.

Trafficking in the drug is concentrated in and around Harrisonburg and
along the Interstate 81 corridor. Law enforcement officials trace its local
introduction to about six years ago.

Local authorities have had to prosecute with penalties they consider to be
too light for big-time pushers, said Tom Murphy, coordinator of the drug
task force for Harrisonburg and Rockingham County.

"The community leaders we have are well aware of the situation," Murphy
said. "In other parts of the state, they're not as familiar with the
problems of meth because they don't have it in their back yard."

Sen.-elect Mark D. Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg, plans to introduce
legislation at the upcoming assembly session that would provide
methamphetamine the same sentencing guidelines as cocaine.

Murphy, a special agent with the Virginia State Police Drug Enforcement
Division, heads the RUSH Drug Task Force, an eight-person team that draws
members from the Harrisonburg Police Department and the Rockingham County
Sheriff's Office. Over the last three years, RUSH has seized about 15
pounds of methamphetamine per year, he said.

Also called speed, ice and crank, methamphetamine is a stimulant that
causes hyperactivity and euphoria. Users can remain awake for days at a
time. They ingest the drug by smoking, snorting or taking it orally like a
pill.

Obenshain plans to introduce a bill that would impose stiffer sentences on
dealers caught with especially large amounts. Under state law,
methamphetamine is handled the same as heroin, cocaine and other drugs
considered among the most dangerous, but without the penalty enhancements
for higher amounts of cocaine.

A conviction for making, possessing or distributing the stimulant is
punishable by five to 40 years on the first offense and five years to life
on the second offense. A third conviction is punishable by five years to
life, but comes with a mandatory three-year imprisonment.

The idea that toughening those penalties will reduce the flow of drugs or
the number of users has its doubters.

"All these penalties are already very stiff," said Lennice Werth, a member
of Virginians Against Drug Violence, a group that advocates an end to the
drug war. "If the sentences are already long, making them longer is just
going to cost more in incarceration. And you have to ask, is it going to be
effective? There's no evidence that it's going to be effective."

Murphy said, "I think it's a deterrence, and it does make a difference."