Pubdate: Thu, 24 Feb 2005
Source: Leader-Telegram (Eau Claire, WI)
Copyright: 2005 Eau Claire Press
Contact: http://www.cvol.net/contacteditor.htm#editorform
Website: http://www.leadertelegram.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/236
Author: Knight Ridder News Service
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

OFFICIALS PRESS LAWMAKERS FOR LEGISLATION ON METH

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.

"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 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
percent 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. Turner of Racine and Frederick 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 percent 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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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin