Methamphetamine

Bayh Measure to Thwart Production of Methamphetamine Passes Senate; Measure will help keep ingredients out of the hands of illicit drug manufacturers

June 10, 2009 -- Washington -- Tough new anti-drug legislation championed by Senator Evan Bayh to reduce methamphetamine production and abuse passed the United States Senate yesterday. The Combat Methamphetamine Enhancement Act of 2009 strengthens enforcement laws to reduce the production and distribution of this dangerous drug.    » read more »

Bill would enforce retail compliance with the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act

June 9, 2009 -- Washington, DC – The U.S. Senate has approved legislation introduced by U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) that would require retailers of pseudoephedrine and ephedrine products to verify that they have trained their staff in the requirements of the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act that went into effect in 2006.

The next step in the fight against methamphetamine is to pass the Saving Kids from Dangerous Drugs Act – a bill pending before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Senator Grassley is a co-sponsor of the legislation.    » read more »

Schumer Announces Senate Passage Of Legislation To Combat Methamphetamine Production; Bill Will Tighten 2006 Law Which Required Sellers of Drug to Be Trained and Certified

June 9, 2009 -- U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today announced that the United State Senate has passed the Combat Methamphetamine Enhancement Act of 2009, a bill that he backed to enhance the ability of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to crack down on methamphetamine production.    » read more »

Bill would enforce retail compliance with the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act

June 9, 2009 --
Washington, DC – The U.S. Senate has approved legislation introduced by U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) that would require retailers of pseudoephedrine and ephedrine products to verify that they have trained their staff in the requirements of the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act that went into effect in 2006.

The next step in the fight against methamphetamine is to pass the Saving Kids from Dangerous Drugs Act – a bill pending before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Senator Grassley is a co-sponsor of the legislation.    » read more »

June 8, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – Senator Chuck Grassley today continued his efforts to keep meth off the streets and out of the homes of Iowans. Legislation he co-sponsored with Senator Dianne Feinstein to help control meth precursor chemicals, passed the Senate tonight by unanimous consent. It will now be sent to the House for consideration.

“Iowa has been hit harder than most states by the meth epidemic. Passage of the Combat Meth Act in 2006 provided us with a good deal of success in reducing the domestic meth supply, but it’s tough to stay a step ahead. So, we’re looking to do more to get this dangerous drug out of the hands of people across the country,” Grassley said.    » read more »

February 4, 2009 -- The economic cost of methamphetamine use in the United States reached $23.4 billion in 2005, including the burden of addiction, premature death, drug treatment and many other aspects of the drug, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

The RAND study is the first effort to construct a comprehensive national assessment of the costs of the methamphetamine problem in the United States.

"Our findings show that the economic burden of methamphetamine abuse is substantial," said Nancy Nicosia, the study's lead author and an economist at RAND, a nonprofit research organization.    » read more »

May 28, 2008 -- STOCKTON -- California Department of Justice special agents, in partnership with the Stockton Police Department, today arrested members of the violent Norteno street gang, which terrorized Stockton with drive-by shootings and crystal methamphetamine trafficking at the direction of the Nuestra Familia prison mafia.    » read more »

May 14, 2008 -- OROVILLE -- California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced that special agents in the California Department of Justice Bureau of Gambling Control and Butte County Inter-Agency Task Force have shut down a methamphetamine laboratory operating from motor homes parked at Feather Falls Casino.

“State investigators encountered a mobile methamphetamine laboratory operating right in the middle of the casino parking lot,” Attorney General Brown said. “The suspects disguised their mobile meth operation by hiding amongst legitimate visitors who were parking in the casino’s parking lot.”    » read more »

Senator Says Progress Has Been Made, More Needs To Be Done To Stamp Out Meth, Other Drug Use

April 22, 2008 -- (Washington, D.C.) – Montana’s senior U.S. Senator Max Baucus and others today urged the Senate Appropriations Committee to provide $235 million for the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) Program, which helps drug tasks forces coordinate efforts to curb drug trafficking.

Anti-methamphetamine graffiti on a house near Billings, Montana: Photo by Eric Chan (CC)    » read more »

March 31, 2008 -- HELENA - Montana Attorney General Mike McGrath released a report Monday that demonstrates the state continues to make progress against the use of methamphetamine.

Methamphetamine in Montana: A Follow-Up Report on Trends and Progress (PDF) was done in conjunction with the Montana Meth Project. Trends identified in the report are based on data that includes drug task force incident reports, law enforcement statistics, crime lab reports, hospital discharge and admission information, survey results and interviews with participating agencies. McGrath's office released a similar report in early 2007.

McGrath said statistics from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey conducted by the Office of Public Instruction were especially encouraging.    » read more »

Eight arrested, methamphetamine, marijuana, cocaine, hash, guns, U.S. currency seized

March 13, 2008 -- SANTA ROSA -- California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today announced that California Department of Justice agents yesterday arrested eight suspects in connection with a Santa Rosa drug distribution ring and methamphetamine laboratory in the town of Winton.    » read more »

Federal funds are for local, “front-line” anti-crime and drug enforcement efforts

March 3, 2008 -- Calling the funding essential to the operation of state crime and drug enforcement efforts, the 56 Attorneys General from all jurisdictions of the United States today issued a letter calling on Congressional leaders to restore funding to the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program.    » read more »

March 03, 2008 -- (WASHINGTON, D.C.) -- New Mexico Attorney General Gary King today joined attorneys general from all jurisdictions of the United States in asking Congress to restore funding to the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program.

Byrne-JAG is currently the only source of funding available to local and state law enforcement for multijurisdictional drug enforcement, including methamphetamine initiatives, and is a critical source of funds for drug courts, law enforcement collaboration, gang prevention, and prisoner reentry programs.    » read more »

March 3, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Montana Attorney General Mike McGrath on Monday joined all of the nation's attorneys general in sending a letter to Congressional leaders asking them to restore funding to the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program.    » read more »

March 3, 2008 -- Calling the funding essential to the operation of state crime and drug enforcement efforts, Maine Attorney General Steve Rowe, joined by the 55 other Attorneys General from all jurisdictions of the United States today issued a letter calling on Congressional leaders to restore funding to the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program (Byrne-JAG).    » read more »