Pubdate: Thu, 24 Feb 2005
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI)
Copyright: 2005 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Contact:  http://www.jsonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/265
Author: Graeme Zielinski

AUTHORITIES SHARE METHAMPHETAMINE ABUSE STORIES WITH LAWMAKERS

Authorities share methamphetamine abuse stories wi - Madison - With the aim
of spurring new action on methamphetamine abuse, prosecutors and law
enforcement officials from western Wisconsin on Wednesday told an Assembly
hearing tales of drive-by shootings, exploding trailer homes and children
imperiled by witch's brews of toxic substances.

St. Joseph's Hospital's rehabilitation center in Chippewa Falls

"We're getting buried by this," St. Croix County District Attorney Eric G.
Johnson told the Assembly Criminal Justice and Security Committee.

"This is not like other drugs. . . . Nobody's getting off this drug without
legitimate treatment," said Shawna Kovach, an administrator from the
rehabilitation center of St. Joseph's Hospital in Chippewa Falls.

Led by its chairman, Rep. Scott Suder (R-Abbotsford), the panel also heard
testimony from industry and trade groups fretting that Wisconsin may go the
way of other states and take a hard line on access to products with
pseudoephedrine, a principal agent in lucrative cold medications such as
Sudafed and a foundational element in the meth now creeping its way
eastward.

Just before the hearing took place, a bipartisan group of legislators
introduced a Senate bill that contains just those proscriptions, including
classifying pseudoephedrine as a controlled substance, meaning it would be
available only at pharmacies.

Spearheading that effort was Sen. Sheila E. Harsdorf (R-River Falls), who
was surrounded by many of the sheriffs and district attorneys who shared
their stories at the Assembly hearing.

"It's an epidemic," she said, noting figures that showed that 52% of the
state's meth cases, as reported to the state crime lab, were concentrated in
seven counties in the northwestern part of the state. Reported cases of meth
grew from 314 in 2002 to 545 last year, according to Justice Department
figures.

With dwindling federal funds, Sen. Robert Jauch (D-Poplar) worried how
localities, particularly in rural areas, would be able to pay for new
initiatives to combat meth abuse.

"I don't know how we're going to do this," he said in an interview.

Back at the Assembly hearing, two Democrats on the committee, Reps. Robert
L. Turner of Racine and Frederick P. Kessler of Milwaukee, chided Suder for
excluding Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager.

"I think that this is extremely disappointing that a staff member of hers is
invited and she is not," Kessler said, a reference to the special agent and
meth expert whom Suder had invited. That agent, Cindy Giese, withdrew,
leaving an open space Tuesday, though Suder declined Kessler's suggestion
that Lautenschlager, who was available, be allowed to speak.

"I think it's dumb," Kessler said in a later interview. "It's an effort to
embarrass her."

Suder said at the hearing that he intended no harm, and that he would make
an effort to meet with Lautenschlager face-to-face and buy her "a cup of
coffee, not paid for by the taxpayers."

In her testimony, Kovach, who estimated that her clinic's clients had
increased in number by more than 100% over recent years because of meth
abuse, described the highly addictive nature of the drug, which can induce
paranoid and violent behaviors and permanently alter the brains of meth
users.

Jerry Matysik, the Eau Claire police chief, described a recent armed
burglary committed by meth users on a binge and said the spike in use and
addiction "has already started to change the quality of life in the Chippewa
Valley."

He said his number of meth cases grew from 9 in 2002 to 80 in 2004

Libby Dannenberg, a lobbyist from the Washington-based association
comprising the major pharmaceutical companies, said that limiting the
ingredients in meth should be looked at "across-the-board, not just
pseudoephedrine." She said new restrictions on pseudoephedrine sales could
unfairly burden consumers.

Johnson, the St. Croix district attorney, said restrictions and lost profits
would be "minimal, compared with some of the costs we have in law
enforcement." 
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