From Deseret News archives:
Meth task force calls for harsher penalties
Members suggest increasing minimum sentence to 3 years
Currently, producing the drug methamphetamine is a second-degree felony with prison time from one to 15 years. Members of the Utah Methamphetamine Joint Task Force, who met Monday, want to increase the minimum sentence from one to three years because they say too many offenders are spending only a year behind bars before they once again begin producing the drug.
"These people are a revolving door," said state Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan. "Three years (minimum sentence) doesn't even make me feel great."
Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said it is common for meth producers to be arrested several times for the same crime.
"Law enforcement officials tell us they often rearrest the same people in the same houses (for making meth)," he said.
The recommendation of three years minimum sentence for meth producers was one among several recommendations the task force discussed.
The group hopes to include the minimum sentence and other recommendations in a bill for the next legislative session.
Members of the task force also discussed putting limitations on the sale of over-the-counter drugs, like the cold medicine Sudafed, which contain ephedrine or pseudoephedrine — chemicals necessary in the production of meth. They discussed creating a database to track the sale of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine products and requiring prescriptions for the purchase of products containing the chemicals.
Shurtleff said it may be difficult to require prescriptions for over-the-counter products containing the chemicals.
"That's the big question. Every time someone gets the sniffles are we going to have to write them a prescription?" he said.
Another problem the group discussed was how to combat the influx of meth made outside of Utah.
Camille Cain, co-chairwoman of the committee, said most of the meth coming into Utah is from Mexico. She said dealing with the issue will be difficult because it is intertwined with immigration.
"Of course, it's not the immigrants that are bringing the drugs, it's the drug pushers ... ," she said.
Film, discussion set Wednesday
The film "Mother Superior," a story about a teenage girl whose stepmother is addicted to meth, will be shown 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Salt Lake City Library Auditorium followed by a panel discussion.
E-mail: dgardiner@desnews.com
