Police News Mar 06.indd - New Zealand Police Association

PoliceNewsThe Voice of PoliceWashington State shifts focus totarget methamphetamine usersAfter years of targeting home-based methamphetaminelaboratories, Washington State and law enforcement officialsare shifting focus, taking aim at meth addicts themselves.Washington has for many years ranked nearthe top of the states for the number of methlabs found annually.Now, Washington Attorney-General RobMcKenna, along with a 26-member task forceknown as “Operation: Allied Against Meth,”is backing legislation that focuses on longerprison sentences and emphasises substanceabuse treatment.“Our jails and prisons are filling up with peoplewho have been convicted of meth offencesand offences related to their meth addiction,”McKenna told Associated Press, citing aSpokane survey that determined that 93% ofinmates convicted of felony property crimeswere meth users.Longer sentencesThe measure would lengthen the penalties ofmeth offenders by requiring sentences to beserved consecutively. Longer sentences willallow the state adequate time to wean addictsoff the highly addictive stimulant, according toMcKenna.“It is harder to treat a meth addiction than it isto treat an addiction for cocaine or heroin orother hard drugs,” McKenna said. “Someonewho comes out of jail or prison addicted tometh will go right back to their old behaviours.Therefore, treatment is an essentialcomponent.”In tandem with the new measures will be atreatment pilot project specifically for methusers. About 100 new treatment beds wouldbe established.To target meth addicts in all facets of life, thebill would re-enact Washington’s Drug-FreeWork Place standards, which expired in 2001.That legislation compensates employers forkeeping employees off drugs.Focus on rural countiesAdditionally, the state will make rural countiesa priority, providing more than $1 million- Photo courtesy of the Office of the Attorney-General, Washington.per year for drug enforcement. Meth usersare proportionally higher in rural regions,and some Washington counties don’t havefederally funded task forces.In total, McKenna’s meth push will cost thestate around $10 million per year, said policydirector Chris Johnson.Research shows that meth addicts are oftenrepeat offenders and they are a burden tovictims, the court system, the environment,the state and law enforcement. McKenna alsonoted that “meth is the single largest driver offoster care cases in the state.”McKenna’s proposals will also provide moretools to assist in the cleanup of contaminatedmeth labs.RestrictionsUnder a law that went into effect on 1 October2005, stores must keep cold and allergymedications behind the counter, and clerksmust check a customer’s identification toensure that they are at least 18.Since last July, customers have been limitedto purchasing two meth-producing precursorproducts in a 24-hour period. Since NewYear’s Day, store clerks have started keeping40March 2006