Senator Feinstein Asks Attorney General Ashcroft to
Officially Approve DEA Office in Redding
July 6, 2001

Washington, DC – To combat the serious methamphetamine problem in Northern California, U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) has asked Attorney General John Ashcroft to provide official approval and funding authorization for a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) office in Redding.

In a letter to Attorney General Ashcroft, Senator Feinstein wrote: “Last August, at my request, the DEA agreed to modify is timetable for placing an office in Redding to this fiscal year, in order to address the serious problem of methamphetamine production and trafficking in Northern California. While two DEA agents have been dispatched to Redding on a temporary basis, official approval and funding of this office has not yet been finalized.

I would like to ask that you look into this matter to ensure that official approval for this office moves forward as quickly as possible, so that federal, state and local law enforcement in Northern California can work together in the fight against methamphetamine.”

Senator Feinstein has long been a leader in the fight against the production and distribution of methamphetamine. She co-authored the Comprehensive Methamphetamine Control Act of 1996, which restricted access to certain precursor chemicals used in making methamphetamine and substantially increased penalties for the sale and possessions of chemicals or equipment used to make methamphetamine.

Senator Feinstein was also a co-sponsor of the Methamphetamine Trafficking Penalty Enhancement Act of 1998, which equalized penalties for methamphetamine crimes with those for crack cocaine.

California supplies roughly 80% of methamphetamines to the country and the Drug Enforcement Administration considers the State of California is to be the ‘source country’ for methamphetamines in America.

In 1999 the Shasta Interagency Drug Team seized 32 meth labs and over 6,000 ounces of meth.