Pubdate: Wed, 18 May 2005
Source: Greenville News (SC)
Copyright: 2005 The Greenville News
Contact:  http://greenvillenews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/877
Author: Ben Szobody
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

COUNCILWOMAN PRESSES FOR STIFFER METH PENALTIES

The proliferation of meth, a severely addictive drug that users brew from
cold medicine and other common chemicals, is permanently marring the
Greenville homes where it's made and could soon hit taxpayers with a
ballooning cleanup bill.

County Councilwoman Judy Gilstrap took up the issue Tuesday and asked
all 11 of her colleagues to lobby state lawmakers for stiffer
penalties for methamphetamine makers.

Shirbie DeWees routinely walks her Westside neighborhood with a friend
and said she has recently noticed an odor like burning batteries in
one area, so powerful she covers her face. The acrid smell convinced
her to skip church one night for a meth awareness meeting, though
she's still not sure what's happening nearby her home.

Gilstrap, who represents DeWees' area on Council, said children,
taxpayers and local homeowners stand to lose if meth-making penalties
aren't bolstered.

"There's only so much you can do unless we get some help," she
said.

Tuesday's proposal would have no direct effect on meth cookers but
comes at the request of Greenville County Sheriff Steve Loftis and
constitutes a response to a blight urgent enough to merit Council's
voice even though the criminal penalty falls outside its jurisdiction,
Gilstrap said.

In a memo to council members, she said the "vast majority" of local
meth-related charges are misdemeanors and that penalties for makers
and distributors should be tougher since buying the drug's
ingredients, such as rat poison, Sudafed and Drano, are not crimes.

The Sheriff's Office has broken up two meth labs in Gilstrap's
Westside district, she said, and department figures show 68 countywide
labs discovered so far this year, 26 of which required cleanup at a
cost of about $4,000 per incident.

This year's total known labs is already more than the 64 labs found in
all of 2004, said Master Deputy Michael Hildebrand, a Sheriff's Office
spokesman.

Law enforcement now puts a notice on a home's deed that it formerly
housed a meth lab, Hildebrand said, but removing all the toxic
chemicals involved is difficult.

"You don't know what they've been doing," he said. "A lot of waste or
byproduct is liquid, so you don't know if it's been poured into the
ground or absorbed into the carpet."

Council members expressed support for Gilstrap but took no formal
action.

State Sen. David Thomas, R-Greenville, said he's long been aware of
meth abuse but hadn't heard about the "staggering" increase in known
labs.

A "drop dead" penalty for manufacturers and distributors "needs to be
about as stiff as you can get," he said, though it's not an issue
that's come up in the legislature.

"I would certainly support some kind of increase in penalty for the
manufacture and distribution of meth," Thomas said.

The maximum sentence for the manufacture or distribution of meth is
currently a 15-year felony for the first offense and not more than 25
years for the second, Hildebrand said.

Offenders can be released on bail while awaiting a court appearance,
he said, and have the chance to return to making the drug.

"Sometimes," Hildebrand said, "it can just seem like a never-ending
cycle."
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin