[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 99 (Friday, July 19, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7107-S7109]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself, Mr. Hutchinson, and Mr. Kohl):
  S. 2763. A bill to respond to the illegal production distribution, 
and use of methamphetamines in the United States, and for other 
purposes; to the Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce the ``CLEAN-
UP Meth Act,'' a bill to address illegal and environmentally disastrous 
methamphetamine production.
  I am pleased to submit this bill on behalf of myself, Senator 
Hutchinson of Arkansas, and Senator Kohl.
  Essentially, this bill would help our Federal, State and local 
governments combat methamphetamine on a number of levels, from 
production to clean-up, prosecution to prevention.
  The legislation would accomplish this with two key components: First, 
the bill would allocate $125 million for important training and cleanup 
efforts, including training local law enforcement to effectively clean 
up meth lab and dump sites. And second, we would make it much harder 
for meth dealers to get the precursor pseudoephedrine products 
necessary to make this illegal drug.
  Once predominantly found in the American Southwest, methamphetamine's 
presence now stretches from coast to coast. Once predominantly found in 
rural areas, its harmful effects now extend from our smallest towns to 
our biggest cities.
  For instance, the number of clandestine meth labs discovered in North 
Carolina has doubled every year for the past four years.
  In New Orleans, police in the Jefferson district seized a total of 
828 grams of methamphetamine in all of the year 2000. Last year, they 
seized more than ten times that amount, 9,003 grams, with a street 
value of more than $1 million.
  I'm sorry to say that my home State of California has been referred 
to as the ``Colombia of meth production.'' In fact, our State is known 
as the ``source country'' for the drug, producing roughly 80 percent of 
the Nation's methamphetamine supply. According to the DEA, 1,847 
clandestine meth labs were found last year in California alone.
  Each of these 1,847 labs in California, and each of the labs 
scattered around this Nation near schools, on farms, in trailer parks 
and in quiet suburban neighborhoods, creates a whole host of dangers 
and toxic waste.
  The actual production of methamphetamine is harmful in a number of 
ways. First, the hazardous chemicals used in meth production are toxic, 
and long-term exposure is damaging. Furthermore, the materials can also 
be explosive and dangerous. Production using these volatile materials 
has resulted in countless accidents, houses and even apartment 
buildings burned to the ground, explosions that scatter chemicals and 
flames, and chemical reactions that cause untold damage to the 
individuals involved in meth production or simply living in the same 
household, individuals that, too often, include children.
  Meth production also poses risks to the health of the surrounding 
public and environment. According to the National Drug Intelligence 
Center, NDIC, for every pound of meth produced, five to seven pounds of 
hazardous waste results from the production as well. Meth producers 
dump this waste anywhere and everywhere, from nearby ditches to public 
lands, from pits dug in the middle of a farm to rivers and lakes.
  One private contractor hired to clean up meth-related hazardous dump 
sites in California responded to more than 500 calls in 2000 alone. And 
one of those dump sites was located along the banks of the California 
Aqueduct, which is a direct source of water for Los Angeles.
  NDIC investigators have found also found toxic chemicals discarded 
into

[[Page S7108]]

household drains and storm drains. And the precursors used to make 
meth, and the toxic byproducts, may last for years in the soil. 
Decontaminating these sites is what makes clean-up so expensive, with 
costs ranging from $5,000 to $150,000 per site. State police in 
Baltimore, MD claim that its costs taxpayers nearly $75,000 each time a 
meth lab must be cleaned up. According to the DEA, that agency spent 
more than $22 million cleaning up 6,609 labs nationwide.
  These extraordinary costs simply cannot be maintained on the local 
level without Federal support. These costs are proof of why Federal 
funding for such valuable efforts is necessary.
  So the first thing this legislation would do is help law enforcement 
as well as the public pay these important costs, by providing millions 
to help clean-up labs and train law enforcement authorities to properly 
and safety do this important work.
  Specifically, the CLEAN-UP Meth bill would provide: $15 million for 
clean-up and remediation of meth contaminated lands managed by the 
Departments of Agriculture or Interior; $15 million for Department of 
Agriculture grants to State and local governments and to private 
persons to clean up meth contaminated lands; $20 million for OSHA 
grants to local law enforcement agencies for training and equipment for 
the safe identification, handling, clean-up and disposal of meth labs; 
and $10 million for Department of Labor grants to local law enforcement 
agencies to help them comply with Federal laws regarding cleanup and 
disposal of meth labs.
  Second, this legislation includes resources to help State and local 
officials prosecute meth offenses, educate the public, and study the 
effects of meth use.
  Methamphetamine is so prevalent partly because it is simple to make 
and is profitable. Producers of meth range from people with advanced 
chemistry degrees to those who are self-taught. Recipes are easily 
available in books as well as over the Internet.
  The drug does not have to be smuggled in across secured international 
borders. Fifty percent of the Nation's consumed methamphetamine is 
produced right here in our country. In fact, the basic ingredients can 
be found in your local pharmacy. These relatively inexpensive materials 
can be used to create a drug that fetches much higher prices. For 
example, ounce quantities are worth between $1,500 and $2,000 and can 
be sold to individual users for about $100 a gram in crystallized 
powder form that can be smoked, snorted, swallowed or turned into 
liquid and injected. According to the Office of National drug Control 
Policy, ONDCP, methamphetamine users spent nearly $6 billion on the 
drug in 1999.
  Methamphetamine is also highly addictive. Known on the street as 
crank, speed, ice and zip, methamphetamine is cheaper than cocaine, 
more addictive than crack and causes more brain damage than heroin or 
alcohol. A single dose of this ``poor man's cocaine'' can keep a person 
awake for three to four days at a time and has been associated with 
paranoia and often violence. In California's Central Valley, 
methamphetamine has become the drug of choice and a principal cause of 
crime.
  I firmly believe that law enforcement officials cannot effectively 
fight this drug and its harmful effects unless we provide them with the 
proper resources. Already this year, police in Oklahoma City have 
seized 115 meth labs. Law enforcement officials there have attributed 
these seizures to the support from Federal grants.
  Keith Cain, a sheriff in Daviess County, KY also claims that Federal 
funding has proved to be crucial to the war against meth. According to 
Cain, ``Without that money, we would not have been able to be as 
proactive as we've been.''
  Last year, the federally funded Central Valley High-Intensity Drug 
Trafficking project to restrict the supply of the chemical agents used 
in making the deadly drug was showing impressive results. A team of 
specialists from local drug units, the California Highway Patrol, DEA 
and FBI averaged one bust a week of the clandestine ``super labs'' that 
had made the Central Valley the national center for the production of 
methamphetamine. These triumphs were the direct result of federal 
funding and proof that allocating Federal resources is imperative to 
progress.
  However, since September 11, agents have been removed from the 
project and transferred to anti-terrorism work. The lack of drug 
enforcement resources has created a strain on the project and threatens 
the progress it has had combating methamphetamine.
  It would be a tragedy to California and the country if we lost all of 
the progress this program and others like it have made in the war on 
meth simply due to a lack of resources. Programs like this one have 
proven to be effective and need our continued support.
  Our bill would provide: $20 million for training of State and local 
prosecutors and law enforcement agents for prosecution of meth 
offenses, $5 million of which will be dedicated for rural communities 
and $2 million to reimburse the DEA for existing training programs; $10 
million additional for training at the DEA's Clandestine Laboratory 
Training Facility in Quantico, VA; $2 million for the Department of 
Justice for the collection, aggregation and dissemination of meth lab 
seizure stats by the El Paso Intelligence Center, EPIC.
  Third, we address the problems of our children. Raids and seizures of 
clandestine meth labs have been instrumental to the war on meth and 
have uncovered a number of alarming issues, but none more troubling 
than the effect meth production has on the children of meth dealers and 
their friends.
  Drug rings and meth trafficking organizations found throughout the 
American West have been linked to Mexican drug traffickers as well as 
white supremacist groups. Last year, for instance, law enforcement 
authorities in Los Angeles County uncovered a sophisticated meth 
trafficking ring that includes suspects with tattoos of Nazi swastikas 
and belong to a local gang called the ``Untouchables.'' During police 
raids of their meth labs and headquarters, agents seized nearly 
$500,000 in cash and more than 100 high-powered weapons, including 
assault rifles and a grenade launcher.
  Earlier this year, Central Valley investigators raided a 
methamphetamine super-lab in a farmhouse on the outskirts on Merced, 
CA. Inside, investigators found vats of toxic chemicals, large supplies 
of pseudoephedrine used in producing meth and three illegal firearms.
  Yet, the most disturbing part of this story is that while the 
manufacturers were engaged in the potentially explosive process of 
extracting pure methamphetamine, four small children watched television 
in the next room. The children were taken to a local hospital and 
tested positive for methamphetamine contamination.
  I would like to say that this is a rare case. However, this story is 
no exception. In 2001, 1,989 children were found in clandestine meth 
labs, materials storage sites and dump sites across the country.
  The CLEAN-UP Meth Act would provide $2.5 million for grants to states 
for treatment of children suffering adverse health impacts from meth-
related exposure.
  The bill also includes $20 million for the development of anti-
methamphetamine education programs in our nation's schools. Informing 
and educating our children on the dangers of this drug is the first 
step in reducing the number of new users of methamphetamine.
  In addition to the funding provisions of the bill, which were 
introduced by Representative Ose in the House, this legislation also 
contains language to close the ``Blister Pack Loophole'' in current 
law, which currently allows meth dealers to purchase unlimited 
quantities of pseudoephedrine products, generally cold and sinus 
medication, as long as it is packaged in blister packs, those tin foil 
and plastic packages most of us buy these days, which require that each 
pill be separate rather than simply poured into a bottle.
  Our current law limits retail sales of bottled pseudoephedrine to 
just 9 grams, because we found several years ago that meth dealers 
would go into a pharmacy, a Costco or other large store, sweep the 
shelves clean of cold medicine, bring the bottles back to the lab, cut 
off the tops of the bottles without even bothering to unscrew the caps 
instead, and pour the pills out as the first step to making meth.
  When we passed the 9 gram threshold, and before that the 24-gram

[[Page S7109]]

threshold, for bottled pills, I made the case that if limits were 
placed on bottles only, meth dealers would simply start buying blister-
packed pills instead. At the time, some argued that blister packs were 
simply too unwieldy for meth manufacturers to bother with, the process 
of popping individual pills out of each blister would be too time 
consuming. But we had evidence from California that dealers were 
already using these blister packs, so as a compromise we asked the DEA 
to conduct a nationwide study of whether blister packs posed a problem. 
Well, guess what, they do.
  According to the report we requested from the DEA, which was 
finalized late last year, blister packaged pseudoephedrine products 
seized at clandestine methamphetamine laboratories and other locations, 
such as dumpsites, have involved seizures of over a million tablets. 
The seizure of so many blister packaged pseudoephedrine products shows 
convincingly that blister packaging is not a deterrent to ordinary, 
over-the-counter pseudoephedrine use in clandestine methamphetamine 
laboratories.
  Indeed, the report even includes information about automated machines 
whose sole purpose is to remove pills from blister packs on a massive 
scale. These machines have been found in meth labs, along with 
hundreds, even thousands, of empty blister packs.
  So clearly, what we argued in 1999, and in 1996, is true. Meth 
manufacturers are using blister packs, and something must be done to 
stop them as best we can.
  In order to address this problem, DEA recommended in the report it 
released late last year that the blister pack loophole be closed, and 
that the current retail sales limit of 9 grams for bottled 
pseudoephedrine be extended to blister packed products as well. And 
that is what this bill would do.
  The meth problem is not just a California problem, or a New York 
problem, or even an Iowa problem. The meth problem is a national 
problem, with tragic consequences across this great country. Without a 
continuing, nationwide, relentless effort on the part of the Federal 
Government, this problem will continue to grow and to infect our 
children and our communities with the scourge of methamphetamine 
production and use.
  I believe DEA Director Hutchinson put it best this spring when he 
argued in support of Federal efforts to crack down on meth. ``It 
clearly impacts every one of our districts, every segment of our 
society and every age group.''
  I urge my colleagues to support this legislation and join the latest 
step towards progress in our war against methamphetamine.
  Mr. KOHL. Mr. President, I rise in support of the CLEAN-UP Meth Act 
of 2002. I am pleased to join my fellow cosponsors, Senators Feinstein 
and Hutchinson in introducing this legislation.
  Methamphetamine is a plague in Wisconsin that affects not only the 
people who purchase and use it, their families and friends, but also 
the law enforcement officials who are involved in cleaning up the 
abandoned meth laboratories. These home grown meth labs inflict 
significant damage to the environment unlike other illicit drugs. The 
labs contaminate the environment and threaten those who discover and 
break down the labs, are exposed to t4he precursor chemicals and clean 
up the polluted environment.
  The meth scourge is growing every day. In 1998, Wisconsin State 
authorities seized only two methamphetamine labs. By 2001, that number 
had increased to 52 and shows no signs of abating. Its appearance in 
the last few years in the western part of Wisconsin, trafficked from 
Minnesota and Iowa, has created a dramatic new problem for law 
enforcement. And, production in the State has grown dramatically in the 
last four years.
  The amount of methamphetamine produced in Wisconsin is also growing 
by leaps and bounds. In 1999, State drug task forces seized 1.6 
kilograms of methamphetamine. In 2000, the number increased to 2.5 
kilograms. Finally, in 2001, the amount of methamphetamine seized in 
Wisconsin skyrocketed to 20.9 kilograms, an increase of 13 fold in only 
two years.
  The existence of a significant and growing meth problem comes as no 
surprise to us. In fact, with the assistance of Wisconsin's Department 
of Narcotics Enforcement, we have attempted to fight the spread of meth 
for the past several years. We have augmented DEA's representation in 
Wisconsin, specifically adding new agents in the western part of the 
state to work in conjunction with state drug officials. We have secured 
DEA mobile drug teams to traverse the northwestern part of the State 
where much of the meth can be found. We have also secured millions of 
dollars in the appropriations process to aid in prevention and clean up 
efforts in western Wisconsin.
  Unfortunately, this has not stemmed the spread of meth. We fear to 
consider how much worse the problem would be if it were not for the 
efforts of our state and local law enforcement officials.
  We must do more. The legislation we introduced today is another 
weapon in the battle against the spread of meth. The bill authorizes 
more funding for the education, prevention and clean up of 
methamphetamine.
  Educating more people about the dangers of meth and assisting in safe 
environmental cleanup are important, long-term approaches to the meth 
problem. There is, however, something that can be done immediately to 
make it more difficult for meth producers to manufacture the drugs.
  We need to make it more difficult for meth producers to get access to 
the precursor chemicals they use to produce methamphetamine. That means 
closing a loophole in the law that currently makes it too easy for meth 
producers to get pseudophedrine. Pseudophedrine is the central 
ingredient in both methamphetamine and most major cold medicines sold 
over the counter.
  To combat the sale of pseudophedrine to meth producers, Congress 
passed the Comprehensive Methamphetamine Control Act of 1996. This 
limited the amount of pseudophedrine or ephedrine that any one person 
could purchase at one time. Yet, Congress did not proscribe the 
purchase of pseudophedrine in so-called ``blister packs.'' The 
pharmaceutical industry argued that it is sufficiently difficult to 
remove each pill from a blister pack, that the sale of pseudophedrine 
in that form need not be limited. Only the sale of pseodphedrine in 
bottles where it would be easy for meth producers to access large 
quantities needed to be restricted.
  As it turns out, the meth producers adapted their behavior to take 
advantage of the loophole in the law by finding a way to make the 
blister packaged pseudophedrine economical to purchase. They did so 
with the advent of presses that simply punctured all of the blister 
packs--therefore removing the type of packaging as an impediment to 
their access to the pseudophedrine.
  The DEA conducted a study on the use of blister packs and found that 
among the refuse left at meth labs are more and more blister packs. 
This demonstrates, in the DEA's view, that the blister pack loophole 
needs to be closed. We agree with their recommendation and therefore 
recommend limiting the amount of pseudophedrine that can be purchased 
by any one person at any one time.
  Closing this loophole in the law governing the manufacture of meth is 
one more weapon in the battle against the drug. Combined with 
education, prevention and greater resources for law enforcement 
throughout Wisconsin, we can stem the tide of this scourge before it 
does even more damage.
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