OLYMPIA — Lawmakers from both parties are backing legislation that would toughen criminal penalties for methamphetamine users while also offering more treatment for addicts.
The bill's prime sponsor, Democratic Sen. Jim Hargrove of Hoquiam, said the harsher sentencing measure would offer meth addicts the "carrot" of extra treatment and the "stick" of more jail time for offenders who refuse treatment.
The proposal, crafted by a 26-person task force appointed by Attorney General Rob McKenna, calls for enhanced penalties against users or manufacturers in a variety of circumstances.
For example, someone caught with a substantial amount of chemicals used in production of the drug or caught manufacturing meth within 1,000 feet of a school-bus stop would potentially face more jail time. Those imprisoned for meth-related crimes could get their sentences reduced by no more than one-third — compared to 50 percent currently — for "good time."
The proposal also includes funding 100 new treatment beds for addicts inside prisons and community treatment centers.
"Unlike other drugs we've battled in the past, there is a remarkable consensus among law enforcement and legislators that there has to be treatment and criminal sanctions," McKenna said in an interview last week.
Under the bill, regional drug-task-force teams would also be created in Southwest, Southeast and Northeast Washington.
On Monday, sheriffs from Grays Harbor, Mason and Pacific counties testified at a Senate hearing in support of the measure. Mike Whelan, Grays Harbor County sheriff, said a regional task force would prevent counties from pushing addicts to areas with weaker meth prevention.
The bill also calls for the state to spend $9 million per year improving cleanup efforts at meth-lab sites by requiring the work be done by state-certified companies. Local and county governments would be shielded from environmental liability, McKenna said.
A representative from the American Civil Liberties Union testified against the bill at Monday's hearing, arguing that it would not provide enough funding for treatment.
The proposal would also replicate Washington's Drug-Free Work Place legislation, which ended in 2001, by offering employers a 5 percent discount on workers'-compensation premiums if they test and monitor employees for drug use.
The bill, SB 6239, would first go before the Senate Human Services and Corrections Committee. It could move to the Senate Ways and Means Committee, the main budget panel, as early as next week, said Hargrove.
In Washington, the number of reported meth labs has decreased by roughly half since 2000, McKenna said. But he was quick to point out that these numbers don't mean meth use has gone down. Instead, 75 percent of Washington's meth comes from outside the state, he said.
In addition, new restrictions on certain cold and sinus medicines took effect this month. Stores must now record the sale of cold and sinus products containing ingredients such as pseudoephedrine and ephedrine, which are used in meth production. Customers are allowed to buy only two packages at a time and must be at least 18 years old.
