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An Open Letter to the United States Congress March 7, 2005 United States Senate Dear Members: On behalf of the more than 75,000 Members and Supporters of the Law Enforcement Alliance of America (LEAA) I am writing to urge you to provide law enforcement organizations with the tools that are badly needed to combat the growing problem of methamphetamine (“Meth”) drug abuse. Current legislative proposals, such as the “Combat Meth Act of 2005” (S. 103 and H.R. 314) include several tools that support law enforcement efforts aimed at small-scale, personal production in home Meth labs. Unfortunately, these bills also would block consumer access to common cold and allergy medications containing small amounts of precursor chemicals. These proposals also fail to adequately address the single most significant source of methamphetamine in the United States, namely, large scale manufacturing, smuggling and distribution by organized drug cartels. We support efforts in S. 103/H.R. 314 to get tough on the illegal production and distribution of home-cooked methamphetamine. Measures in the bill to increase funding for law enforcement, prosecution, and cleanup through programs such as Hot Spot and special U.S. Attorneys funding would provide much-needed resources to improve enforcement of existing restrictions on access to large amounts of precursor chemicals, identify and shutdown small-scale home production, and take local cookers and distributors off the streets. More effective enforcement of existing laws would go a long way toward eliminating small-scale Meth production in the U.S. Additionally, a massive public education effort is needed to alert everyone in America -- small town and big city alike -- about the threat posed by this exceptionally addictive and destructive drug. We oppose the provision in the bill to classify as Schedule V controlled substances common over-the-counter cold medications containing small amounts of pseudoephedrine. Criminalizing the purchase of common over-the-counter medicine is an unnecessary and harmful step that is unlikely to affect the volume of Meth on the street. The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) estimates that 80 percent of the Meth used in the U.S. is produced in high-volume Meth labs in Mexico and California, using pseudoephedrine that is acquired in bulk from Canada, China, or India. Effective law enforcement efforts to break the back of methamphetamine need to focus on foreign drug cartels and the illegal importation of Meth and bulk pseudoephedrine. The DEA should be encouraged to make cross-border Meth interdiction a much higher priority. The Congress should also provide additional resources to dramatically tighten up border security to increase interdiction of methamphetamine and bulk pseudoephedrine coming across the border. Without an adequate effort to reign in the 80 percent of Meth from large-scale production and smuggling, drugs removed through the shutdown of small-scale labs will simply be replaced by more drugs from the cartels, with no reduction in local crime and police risk. Local law enforcement organizations are not well-served by diverting resources that could be used to reduce this trafficking to the enforcing of multiple layers of restrictions on consumer access to small amounts of precursor chemicals. On behalf of the more than 75,000 Members and Supporters of the Law Enforcement Alliance of America (LEAA), I appreciate the opportunity to communicate LEAA’s support for the sections of S.103/H.R. 314 that would increase resources to enforce existing laws and restrictions, and our opposition to additional laws that would merely add unnecessary restrictions without creating an effective mechanism or providing sufficient resources to enforce them. Sincerely, |
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Read LEAA's |
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Read LEAA's |
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