METH PUNISHMENT FITS THE CRIME

Editor:

This letter is in response to Lacey Eldreth's letter regarding the
punishment of meth users. I am not afraid to speak up and let my opinion be
known. First of all, I agree with you that the punishments for murderers
and child molesters are not severe enough.

However, I do not think the charge of producing biochemical or chemical
weapons of mass destruction is too severe for manufacturers of
methamphetamine. I would like to see them prosecuted even more severely.
You stated in your letter that "They haven't even badly hurt anyone."

Where have you been during the past year in Watauga County? Do you even
know the effects that cooking meth has on adults or children? Maybe you
didn't read the article about the volunteer fireman who has suffered
because of the toxicity of methamphetamine fumes. He could have lost his life.

I am the wife of a Cove Creek Fire Department member. Does your loved one
get up in the middle of the night to go to a fire? They are called to save
property and lives. Over the past year, their department has been to
several fires, which were actually caused by someone cooking methamphetamine.

The department was also dispatched to a car wreck, which actually turned
out to be a methamphetamine lab being transported in a car. The scene was
being examined to provide care to accident victims, and the volunteer
members discovered methamphetamine products. These products being
transported in a car are hazardous to anyone driving on the road.

Every volunteer fireman, police or sheriff department member, first
responder, and ambulance crew member puts their life on the line to save
someone they think is in danger. They are risking their own health and
safety to help someone, who obviously has no regard for their own life or
those around them.

In response to your statement that "they weren't cooking up bombs to blow
anything or anybody up," I completely disagree with this statement. They
may not intentionally be trying to hurt someone, but they always will.
Maybe you will agree with me more on this point if a home in your community
blows up or someone you know is involved in a car accident involving a
methamphetamine abuser. I hope this does not happen to you or anyone else
in our community.

In the community attack on methamphetamine, the sheriff's department is
arresting producers and abusers of drugs. I agree with the sheriff and the
district attorney charging these individuals with making weapons of mass
destruction. I will support their action in full, and I think many members
of the community will agree with me. Obviously, the lesser punishments for
meth are not a deterrant for methamphetamine abusers. The same individuals
are being caught repeatedly for distributing or cooking methamphetamine.

"Cooking" methamphetamine is not as harmless as it might sound. The waste
products produced from start to finish in a batch of meth are just as
harmful as anything produced in a chemical laboratory. The gases produced
can cause irreparable damage to the lungs. The meth "cooking" process
contaminates so greatly that the entire area has to be professionally
decontaminated so that it does not present any health risks.

I think you need to be more informed about the harmful effects of
methamphetamine. These "harmless" meth users are destroying the communities
in these beautiful mountains that you love. The byproducts of meth are
polluting our air, water, and the future of this county.

I want to express my appreciation and admiration to Mark Shook, the
Sheriff's Department, volunteer firemen, paid firemen, first responders,
and the ambulance crew for all that they do to protect our community. The
punishment fits the crime. Let's get these people out of our community.
Voice your opinion, work together, form a community watch, and let's show
drug abusers we mean business before it is too late.

Angela Combs

Sugar Grove