NCJ Number
161413
Date Published
April 1996
Length
25 pages
Annotation
This National Methamphetamine Strategy assesses the threat, identifies the issues, and presents an action plan for efforts to counter the spread of this drug, a central nervous system stimulant that can spawn violent, erratic behavior that puts the community and law enforcement officers at risk for harm.
Abstract
Under the strategy, the Attorney General is directing that each U.S. Attorney coordinate a multidisciplinary effort to assess the methamphetamine problem in his/her district and to develop an implementation plan. The strategy will address objectives of international and operational cooperation, including continued development of intelligence on clandestine laboratories and trafficking organizations collected by Federal, State, and local law enforcement agencies, as well as the selection and prosecution of targets. Federal law enforcement will attack the international organizations involved in methamphetamine trafficking and the importation of chemicals used to make methamphetamine in the United States. Additional investigative and prosecution resources will be provided for the Southwest Border and rural areas. The strategy proposes enhanced penalties for trafficking in methamphetamine and its constituent chemicals; these enhanced penalties are appropriate, given the harm that methamphetamine production and use pose to the environment and public safety. In addition, the strategy will punish methamphetamine lab operators who mishandle ignitable, corrosive, reactive, and toxic chemicals that endanger public safety and the environment. Through cooperative initiatives with the U.S. Health and Human Services Department and the Environmental Protection Agency, law enforcement officers will be trained in protecting against the risk posed by clandestine laboratories and chemical dump sites. Civil penalties are proposed for those who sell chemicals to clandestine laboratories; and tighter regulation of the drugs ephedrine and pseudoephedrine, which are use in producing methamphetamine, will be implemented. Finally, public awareness of the dangers of methamphetamine production and use will be raised with education campaigns.