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This brochure was made to help you understand the growing problem of methamphetamine in California and throughout the country. It summarizes the Methamphetamine Control Act of 1996. It will take the combined efforts of federal, state and local governments to address this serious problem. I welcome your input and ideas toward this end.

Facts About Methamphetamine:

Methamphetamine, also known as "speed" or "crank," is a narcotic which is highly addictive, much cheaper than cocaine, and has significantly longer lasting effects, by some 8 to 10 hours, compared to cocaine. Methamphetamine's street value is as little as $3,000 per pound (about the size of a brick), while the price of cocaine is roughly $11,000 per pound.

Methamphetamine comes in multiple forms and can be smoked, snorted or injected. Methamphetamine is habit forming and users develop tolerances that lead to higher and more frequent doses.

The price of methamphetamine is largely determined by the availability of ephedrine, a key ingredient. Regulation of ephedrine, and its resulting unavailability, has increased its wholesale price. As a result, industrious drug traffickers have switched to a less regulated and more economic substitute, pseudoephedrine. This change will ultimately reduce the cost of methamphetamine.

Violence and Death: Methamphetamine's Fatal Results

Does methamphetamine contribute to violent crime and death? Absolutely. Law enforcement officials in California and throughout the United States attribute rising methamphetamine abuse to increases in emergency room admissions and violent crimes.

More than 1,800 deaths were caused by methamphetamine abuse from 1992 to 1994 -- a 145 percent increase in just two years. The majority of these cases occurred in the four western cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and Phoenix.

California Emergency room admissions related to methamphetamine abuse increased by more than 366 percent from 1983 to 1993.

Nearly 3,000 methamphetamine users entered drug treatment centers in 1994 alone in the southern San Francisco Bay and San Diego regions, the Washington Post reports.

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY

Local law enforcement report methamphetamine was a factor in 89 percent of domestic disputes in Contra Costa County.

SAN LUIS OBISPO

Local Authorities requested DEA intervention in curbing a rash of methamphetamine trafficking which included 13 drug-related homicides in one month.

SAN BERNARDINO

360 methamphetamine labs were identified and closed down in 1995 alone.

ORANGE COUNTY

More than 100 people were arrested for manufacturing methamphetamine and 49 labs were closed in 1995.

RIVERSIDE

In the first 60 days of 1996, 46 methamphetamine labs were seized. A lab explosion in December 1995 killed 3 small children.

SAN DIEGO

Rival methamphetamine smuggling rings were responsible for 26 homicides, according to San Diego law enforcement.

How Methamphetamine is Made: It's Easy

Methamphetamine production does not require huge growing fields or sophisticated technology. It can be cooked up by just about anybody in makeshift labs hidden in mobile homes, isolated farms and even motel rooms. With a postage stamp and a few $100 bills, someone can get all the raw materials needed to make a batch of methamphetamine in two days that could produce a handsome profit of thousands of dollars.

AVAILABILITY OF INGREDIENTS

The key ingredient of methamphetamine is ephedrine, a tightly controlled substance. Because of the difficulty in obtaining ephedrine legally, drug dealers have turned to a less-regulated substitute, pseudoephedrine, found in many over-the-counter medicines, which can be processed to remove the buffers and produce ephedrine.

Hydriotic acid is a chemical necessary to manufacture methamphetamine. While hydriotic acid is strictly controlled, it can be easily created by combining two ingredients -- red phosphorous and iodine -- which are not uniformly regulated. So drug dealers simply make cash purchases of these chemicals in large quantities to manufacture methamphetamine.

CHEMICAL MANUFACTURERS

Most chemical manufacturers and distributors follow responsible business practices. Acording to the DEA, just seven California companies are responsible for the cash sales of 95 percent of iodine and red phosphorous. These companies are solely responsible for $10.9 of the $11 million of chemical cash sales. As a matter of fact, over the last three years, cash sales of iodine have ballooned by more than 978 percent, and red phosphorous cash sales have seen a 226 percent increase. Most of these transactions were for quantities greater than 100 pounds, a strong indicator that they are being used in methamphetamine production. Methamphetamine Control Act of 1996.

Because there are no quantity limitations or uniform reporting requirements for iodine and red phosphorous -- the chemicals needed to manufacture methamphetamine -- law enforcement's ability to trace these chemicals is severely handicapped.

Senator Feinstein's Methamphetamine Control Act of 1996 establishes new controls over key chemicals and strengthens criminal penalties for possession and distribution of these chemicals.

CHEMICAL CONTROLS

The legislation will:

• Add the methamphetamine precursor chemicals of iodine, red phosphorous and hydrochloric gas to the Chemical Diversion and Trafficking Act (CDTA). Hydrochloric gas is used to make methamphetamine, as are red phosphorous and iodine, which together make hydriodic acid -- a key ingredient in methamphetamine. By adding these chemicals to the CDTA, a customer wishing to purchase large quantities above a determined threshold will be required to provide a name, address and proof of legitimate purpose.

• Remove the pseudoephedrine "loophole" from the Controlled Substances Act. Pseudoephedrine is a minimally regulated and easily obtainable chemical increasingly used as a substitute for ephedrine, an essential ingredient in methamphetamine, which is heavily regulated. Giving the DEA the same regulatory authority for pseudoephedrine that it has for ephedrine will allow the DEA to track and control large quantity purchases of pseudoephedrine, which often occur via mail. Industry and private consumers will still be able to obtain pseudoephedrine for over-the-counter cold medications.

• Impose a civil "three strikes and you're out" law for chemical supply companies that sell chemicals to persons who use them to make methamphetamine.

• First Strike: Chemical supply houses receive a written warning by the DEA that they have sold chemicals to persons who use them to make methamphetamines;
• Second Strike: A fine of up to $250,000 with the collected funds going toward environmental cleanup of methamphetamine labs.
• Third Strike: Shut down.

INTERNATIONAL CHEMICAL CONTROLS

Most chemicals that-are used to make methamphetamine (such as ephedrine) are tightly controlled in the U.S. but are illegally smuggled into this country through Mexico. This legislation would express the sense of the Congress that ephedrine-producing countries, such as China, should obtain approval from the Mexican government for shipments of methamphetamine-producing chemicals to Mexico.

Criminal Penalties

In addition to establishing new chemical controls, the legislation strengthens penalties for possession and distribution of listed chemicals and production paraphernalia. Specifically, the legislation will:

Double the maximum criminal penalty for possession above the threshold amount set by law of chemicals designated as "List I" or as an essential chemical identified under the Chemical Diversion and Trafficking Act -- such as ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, hydriotic acid and large quantities of iodine.

Increase the maximum criminal penalty for those who possess equipment intended to manufacture methamphetamine from four to ten years. Such equipment includes a triple-neck, round bottom flask and other specialized equipment that has no purpose other than to make methamphetamine.

The production and use of methamphetamine have reached all time highs. No longer just a pastime for outlaw motorcycle gangs, methamphetamine is now in cities rich and poor, urban and rural, throughout the country. Its cheap cost, simple production and availability are contributing factors to the growing methamphetamine epidemic.

By increasing the regulation of raw materials necessary to produce methamphetamine and strengthening criminal sentences for possession of key chemicals and paraphernalia, the Methamphetamine Control Act of 1996 limits the access methamphetamine manufacturers have to the chemicals necessary to produce this poison and will help provide law enforcement with the tools needed to combat it.