CONNECTICUT SETS UP METH CLEARING CENTER

Crime Control Digest, Mar 3, 2006

Connecticut has established a control center to monitor meth activity in the state to improve coordination of police investigations and to expand the gathering of intelligence about the extent of meth offenses.

As part of the attack on meth, Gov. Jodi Rell asked the legislature to stiffen state penalties.

"The changes I am proposing will move us forward in the fight against meth," Rell said. "We need to get tougher laws on our books this year to send the message that the sale or possession of this drug will land you in jail."

The governor's plan would:

* Classify pseudoephedrine and ephedrine as controlled substances.

* Increase penalties for the sale or manufacture of meth, up to 15 years for a first offense and 30 years for a second.

* Reclassify possession of drug manufacturing paraphernalia from a misdemeanor carrying a one-year sentence to felony with a five-year sentence.

* Increase the penalty for "Operating a Drug Factory" when meth is involved by an additional five years.

Since Feb. 1, a centralized reporting procedure has been in place in which the Connecticut Department of Public Safety collects monthly information regarding meth laboratory incidents and shares that information with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The system will attempt to better coordinate government's response to meth production at the local, state and national levels.