Senators Team Up To Battle Drug Scourge

State Senator Jackie Speier has teamed up with U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein to combat the manufacturing of methamphetamine.

Clandestine drug-labs have become common place in rural portions of the state, including the Mother Lode. Calaveras County Sheriff´s deputies have recovered up to 50 trash bags of alleged drug making debris in the county during the past 2 months.

Methamphetamine is relatively inexpensive and easy to make and can be sold to users for a high profit by drug manufacturers. The Senators are calling for passage of State and Federal legislation requiring cold medicine containing pseudophedrine to be kept behind store counters. The proposed legislation would also limit the purchase of pseudophedrine to 9 grams a month and would require a photo ID and signature to purchase.

Speier says the common cold medicine ingredient is a key component of methamphetamine. Hazardous Material teams conducted cleanup of 1,192 meth labs in California last year alone. 15-percent of Meth labs are discovered as the result of a fire or explosion. Chronic exposure to chemicals used to make the drug can cause cancer, brain damage and birth defects.

Methamphetamine is highly addictive and its use has become widespread throughout the state by people that cross all age and socio-economic boundaries. Users often lose weight, experience dramatic mood swings, have trouble sleeping and become extremely paranoid with the potential for violence.