Meth fight is 'all hands on deck,' guv says

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. has reaffirmed his commitment to fighting methamphetamine problems in the state and helping those addicted to the deadly drug, particularly women.

"This is an all-hands-on-deck undertaking, as it should be," Huntsman said Wednesday. "We all have to pull together to fight this insidious problem."

The governor made his comments before state, city, community and business leaders gathered to hear an update from the the Utah Joint Methamphetamine Task Force, formed one year ago to find ways of attacking the meth epidemic.

During his address, Huntsman reiterated that his budget proposal would include $2 million for a meth public-awareness campaign and $2.5 million for substance-abuse treatment programs to help an additional 600 women and children. His budget proposal also earmarks $1.5 million for funding to multijurisdictional drug task forces, $2 million to expand the drug-courts program to include an additional 477 people and $600,000 for the Methamphetamine Task Force to continue its work.

"We're going to fight for these priorities," he said.

Huntsman talked about his and his wife's relation with Jennifer Goodall, 25, who beat her meth addiction and later spent time speaking to children in schools about the dangers of drugs. Goodall also spoke on behalf of Mary Kaye Huntsman's Power in You program. Goodall died in December on her wedding night. The cause of death is still unknown.

Meth is the most abused drug among women aged 18 to 35 seeking help in Utah treatment centers, according to the Utah Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Mental Health. And many of those women have children.

"This drug does discriminate. It discriminates disproportionately against women," Huntsman said.

Overall, drug-treatment-center admissions due to methamphetamine use increased from 8.1 percent in 1995 to 30.5 percent in 2006, according to the task force.

But with public support and an awareness campaign, Huntsman said, great strides can be taken in the battle against meth.

"Treatment for meth is not only possible, it's real," he said.

The task force is broken down into several committees, each assigned to make sure the meth problem is addressed on all fronts from public awareness to treatment. Several of those committee leaders addressed the group Wednesday.

Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, head of the law enforcement committee, said he is proposing increased penalties for people who are providing the drugs and their ingredients.

"If you can't buy it, you can't make it," he said.

Shurtleff is proposing a minimum mandatory sentence of three years for meth cooks, and he wants to raise the penalty for a second offense for retailers illegally selling meth precursors to a class A misdemeanor.

Other task-force members talked about how the meth problem has had a major impact on hospital emergency rooms, and the Division of Child and Family Services is seeing extreme neglect cases involving meth-addicted moms.

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