Pubdate: Wed, 07 Jul 2004 Source: Charlotte Observer (NC) Copyright: 2004 The Charlotte Observer Contact: http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/78 Author: Alice Gregory Hartnett Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) BILL WOULD GIVE LONGER TERMS TO METH LAB COOKS N.C. Senate Adds On 5 Years If Police Or Firefighters Are Injured In a last-minute vote Tuesday, N.C. senators unanimously approved longer prison sentences for methamphetamine manufacturers whose labs injure law enforcement officers or firefighters. The legislation adds five years to felony prison sentences for people convicted of making meth -- and endangering others during the highly toxic and potentially explosive cooking process. Tuesday's vote amends a bill senators approved last month requiring prison time for meth manufacturers and allowing prosecutors to charge a meth cook with second-degree murder if anyone dies in a meth explosion. The current law allows meth manufacturers probationary sentences. "A lot of time laws are written to try to prevent people from doing something wrong, when we should be punishing people more strongly when they do something wrong," said Republican Sen. Virginia Foxx, whose district includes Watauga County, one of the most meth-plagued in the state. Senators rushed the amendment through Tuesday to get it on the books as the session winds to an end. The House will now take up its version of the bill, which calls for similar penalties. Until 2000, the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation busted fewer than 10 meth labs per year. Last year, authorities found 177. To stop the drug's spread, Attorney General Roy Cooper proposed spending more than $14 million to hire more agents and chemists, train law enforcement officers and launch a public awareness campaign. But the N.C. Senate budget includes only $1.1 million for hiring eight agents and six chemists and expanding the western crime laboratory. The House budget allocates just $700,000 for the same projects. Cooper said in an interview Tuesday it's critical for state House members to approve tougher penalties for meth manufacturing. But the attorney general seemed to accept that he wouldn't get the money he was requesting. "We need to go further, but this is a good first step," Cooper said. "Success in the legislature often comes in increments." - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin