[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Pages 19898-19900]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             ILLEGAL DRUGS

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Madam President, I am going to now visit about an issue 
I often visit with my colleagues about, the issue of drugs, because I 
served with Senator Biden as cochairman of the drug caucus.

[[Page 19899]]

  As a parent and now grandparent, I remain deeply concerned about the 
hazardous environment to which our children are exposed. Every day, we 
see more and more heartbreaking stories of a child being victimized in 
one way or another. Some of the most disturbing trends involve deadly 
drugs and our own kids. More specifically, there is an alarming number 
of kids who are being exposed to environments where illegal drugs are 
being manufactured and sold. Kids are also falling prey to unscrupulous 
drug dealers who are disguising highly addictive drugs to make them 
appear as if they were candy. I believe we have a moral obligation in 
this country to ensure our young people have every opportunity to grow 
up without being accosted by drug pushers at every turn, whether it is 
on TV in the home or on the way to school.
  As a Senator representing a State that has been among the hardest hit 
by the scourge of methamphetamine abuse, I have witnessed firsthand how 
this horrible drug has devastated individual lives and families. I have 
seen the havoc wreaked on the environment as well as the child welfare 
system. I have listened to the horror stories of those caught in the 
grips of addiction. This is why I joined a number of my colleagues in 
passing the Combat Meth Act of 2005. This landmark legislation has 
shown dramatic results in decreasing the number of clandestine meth 
labs and increasing methamphetamine seizures.
  While this is certainly welcome news, particularly for our first 
responders and local law enforcement community, meth labs in our 
communities are still a reality. For instance, in 2006, there were 
still over 6,400 clandestine meth lab incidents throughout the country. 
In my home State of Iowa, we have seen an 88-percent decrease in the 
number of meth lab incidents since 2004 when the Iowa Legislature 
passed a very important piece of legislation cutting down on the number 
of labs. Yet there were still 240 incidents of clandestine labs last 
year alone.
  The Combat Meth Act has been particularly helpful in cutting down on 
mom-and-pop meth labs. However, our efforts have given rise to new and 
more disturbing instances of meth production, trafficking, and abuse 
that are becoming more prevalent throughout our country.
  A case in point can be found in the State of Missouri, where police 
recently made seven meth-related arrests in just as many hours in the 
tiny quiet town of Ozark. The house where these arrests were made 
belonged to a 45-year-old grandmother, who was babysitting her infant 
grandson while his mother was away at school. Upon her arrest, she 
admitted using meth but denied that she was a dealer. However, while 
police searched the house, six more individuals were picked up on meth-
related charges.
  When it was all said and done, three children under the age of 3 
watched as the police arrested their parent or grandparent for selling 
or possessing this terrible drug.
  Sadly, this is not an unusual incident. We have here a picture of a 
baby. Scenes such as the one depicted on this chart are seen throughout 
the country. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration--DEA, as 
we call it around this town--more than 12,000 children throughout the 
country have been affected, injured, or killed at meth lab sites since 
2002. Thousands more have been sent to foster homes or were victims of 
meth-related abuse in the home during the same period.
  In my State of Iowa, the Department of Human Services reports that 
over 1,000 children over the past 4 years were classified as victims of 
abuse and that nearly half of child abuse cases have been meth-related. 
In 2006, there were 107 reported cases of child abuse where meth was 
manufactured in the presence of a minor.
  Due to the shocking number of children who were being victimized by 
drugs in one form or another, I joined my colleagues in supporting a 
bill called the Drug Endangered Children Act of 2005.
  This bipartisan legislation established a national grant program to 
support state Drug Endangered Children--DEC programs. These programs 
assist local law enforcement, medical services, and child welfare 
workers to ensure that victimized children receive proper attention and 
treatment after living in these terrible environments.
  DEC programs greatly benefit local law enforcement by helping law 
enforcement coordinate in close cooperation with the Department of 
Human Services. This ensures a seamless coverage of child welfare and 
law enforcement joint operations. I am pleased to report that since 
this program was implemented a large number of communities throughout 
the Nation have formed multi-disciplinary alliances for the benefit of 
drug-exposed children. There are 16 communities throughout Iowa that 
have set up DEC programs and more are in the process of setting up 
additional programs.
  Unfortunately, the authorization for this grant program expired for 
fiscal year 2008. That is why Senator Feinstein and I introduced S. 
1210, the Drug Endangered Children Act of 2007. This legislation would 
reauthorize this important grant program for an additional 2 years to 
assist States in coordinating law enforcement, medical services, and 
child welfare efforts to ensure children found in such environments 
receive appropriate attention and care. The Senate Judiciary Committee 
unanimously reported this bipartisan legislation to the floor. I urge 
my colleagues to join us in support of this important legislation and 
pass the Drug Endangered Children Act of 2007.
  As cochairman of the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics 
Control, I can tell you that the most at-risk population for drug abuse 
is our young people. Research has shown time and again that if you keep 
children drug-free until they turn 20, chances are very slim that they 
will ever try or become addicted to drugs. Unfortunately, unscrupulous 
drug dealers are all too aware of statistics like these. They have 
developed new techniques and marketing gimmicks to lure in younger 
users. The DEA and the White House's Office of National Drug Control 
Policy have recently issued warnings about highly addictive and 
dangerous drugs being colored, packaged, and flavored in ways that 
appear to attract use by children.
  These drug dealers are flavoring drugs with additives to make them 
taste like candy. For instance, some drugs that have been recovered by 
the DEA and local law enforcement have been flavored to taste like 
strawberry. I have two charts just to show you the seriousness of this 
problem. One of these charts is of the popular novelty candy ``Pop 
Rocks.'' The other is of some strawberry-flavored methamphetamine, 
which is known on the street as ``Strawberry Quick,'' that was seized 
by police during a traffic stop in Missouri. You can see how similar 
these two products appear. It would be very difficult for a child to 
distinguish between these two.
  Other flavors, such as lemon, coconut, cinnamon and chocolate are 
clearly being used to make highly addictive and dangerous drugs seem 
less harmful and more appealing. These flavored drugs are also being 
marketed in smaller amounts, making it cheaper and more accessible to 
children. According to an article in USA Today, at least eight States 
have reported instances involving candy-flavored drugs, and many law 
enforcement officials are expecting these deadly substances to 
infiltrate their communities in the near future.
  Meth is not the only drug that is being flavored or disguised by drug 
dealers. The DEA recently arrested three men in an undercover operation 
in California where candy flavored cocaine was being distributed. The 
DEA seized at least four different flavors of cocaine along with other 
dangerous substances. The estimated street value of the flavored 
cocaine seized in this operation was over $272,000.
  The DEA also arrested 12 people in connection to a marijuana-laced 
candy operation in 2006. The marijuana-laced candy that was seized in 
this operation was packaged to look like well-known brand name candy 
bars. You can see in this chart, all the varieties of marijuana-laced 
candy that this operation

[[Page 19900]]

produced. Once again, you can see how it would be difficult for a child 
to distinguish between these marijuana candies and the real product. 
These drug busts further illustrate the fact that drug dealers will 
stop at nothing to hook a new generation on these deadly drugs.
  Due to the growing trend of these candy-flavored drugs, I joined 
Senator Feinstein in co-sponsoring S. 1211, the Saving Kids from 
Dangerous Drugs Act of 2008, a bill that ought to currently move 
forward. Currently, Federal law enhances the criminal penalties that 
apply when a person sells drugs to anyone under the age of 21. When 
this occurs, the Federal penalties are doubled--or tripled for a repeat 
offense--and a mandatory minimum of at least 1 year must also apply. 
However, this penalty applies only to someone who actually sells drugs 
to someone under 21.
  The Saving Kids from Dangerous Drugs Act, as amended in the Judiciary 
Committee, would expand the circumstances under which these enhanced 
penalties apply to cover the entire operation. Under our bill, the 
enhanced penalties that already exist would also apply to anyone over 
18 years of age who knowingly or intentionally manufactures, creates, 
distributes, dispenses or possesses a schedule I or II controlled 
substance that has been combined with a candy product, is marketed or 
packaged as if it were similar to a candy product, or has been modified 
by flavoring or coloring with the intent to distribute, or sell that 
controlled substance to a person under 21 years of age. The DEA busts 
are prime examples of why we need this bipartisan bill to keep drug 
dealers from pedaling their poison to our children.
  The fight against deadly drugs is an ongoing struggle. We must 
continue to do all we can to protect the most vulnerable among us. We 
must send a clear message to those wishing to prey on our youth that 
you risk serious prison time when you target our future. The National 
Narcotics Officers Associations Coalition is strongly supporting this 
measure. This organization represents 69,000 law enforcement officers 
who encounter these terrible substances on a daily basis and work 
endlessly to keep our children and communities safe. I am pleased that 
my colleagues on the Judiciary Committee overwhelmingly voted in favor 
of reporting this important legislation to the floor. I urge all of my 
colleagues to join us in passing the Saving Kids from Dangerous Drugs 
Act of 2008.
  I urge all my colleagues to join us--meaning myself and Senator 
Feinstein, the main sponsors of the bill--in passing the Saving Kids 
From Dangerous Drugs Act of 2008.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Whitehouse). The Senator from Vermont is 
recognized.

                          ____________________