EXPANSION OF METH LAWS SOUGHT

Wood County Prosecutor Ginny Conley hopes to make enhancement and expansion
of drug statutes relating to West Virginia's growing methamphetamine
problem a priority with this year's legislators.

Conley, who is coordinating her legislative efforts with the West Virginia
Prosecutor's Institute and West Virginia Prosecuting Attorneys Association,
has contacted leaders in the House of Delegates and Senate with proposed
legislative changes. Law regarding the manufacture of meth is broad and not
distinguished from the manufacture of controlled substances, such as
marijuana, Conley said.

"Due to the extreme danger to the community posed by the dangerous fumes
and chemicals used and produced by meth labs," Conley said prosecutors
believe it should be distinguished from the manufacture of other controlled
substances by enacting higher penalties for trafficking and production.

"Prosecutors throughout West Virginia have seen an increase in violent
crimes perpetrated by users of this drug. Meth is inexpensive and can be
made with basic chemistry knowledge and Internet access.

"Meth trafficking and production are different than other drugs because
they are dangerous from start to finish. The reckless practices of the
untrained people who manufacture it in clandestine labs result in
explosions and fires that can injure or kill not only the people and
families involved, but also law enforcement or firemen who respond.
Legislation is needed to address the use of meth, an extremely dangerous
and addictive drug," Conley said.

The easily accessible ingredients used to manufacture the drug are
volatile, and labs have been located in hotels, vehicles and homes.

Once the production, or cooking preparation of the drug, is under way, it
becomes an explosive, chemically hazardous situation, Conley said.

The proposed changes to the state's drug statutes pertaining to meth include:

a.. Making it a felony to assemble or possess chemicals with the intent to
manufacture meth.

a.. Expanding the definition of "drug paraphernalia" to include equipment
used to manufacture meth.

a.. Increasing the penalties for assembling, possessing and manufacturing
meth above other drugs due to the significant dangers to the community when
meth is manufactured and/or produced. As proposed, a defendant convicted
and sentenced for the felony of possession, with intent to deliver,
manufacture, assemble chemicals or owning or permitting a meth lab to be on
one's premises would be ineligible for parole for the minimum number of
years of their sentence. An additional proposed provision would make it a
felony to "knowingly assemble or possess two or more chemicals in a
quantity that may be used to manufacture," meth. The penalty for such a
conviction would be two to 10 years in prison and $50,000 fine.

Under the proposals, the definition of "drug paraphernalia" would be
expanded, and definitions for an illegal meth lab and meth itself would be
added.

As proposed, a section would be added making it unlawful for anyone to keep
or maintain any store, shop, warehouse, dwelling, building, vehicle, boat
or other structure to the purpose of assembling chemicals used to
manufacture meth, or for the storage, use or building of a meth lab.
Penalty for conviction of the offense would be five to 15 years in prison
and a 50,000 fine.

Conley said, when dealing with the ever-growing meth problem, "something
has to give. Local prosecutors have to have more teeth and more substantive
penalties on dealers and users in cases that may not be big enough to be
made part of a federal case," she said.

The prosecutor noted Delegate John Ellem, R-Wood, has proposed versions of
bills to address changes in the meth statutes during the last two sessions,
but his efforts were not successful. Conley said since then, meth labs have
been found in Putnam and Kanawha counties. Awareness of the problem is
spreading, and she's hopeful legislators will act in response.