Washington

Is There a Meth Lab In My Neighborhood?

Interested in a Meth Watch presentation in your County?
Please contact your Meth Action Team Convener!

Drug Situation: Sharing a border with Canada, Washington is a transshipment point for drugs and monies entering Canada, as well as Canadian marijuana (street name BC Bud), MDMA (street name Ecstasy) and other drugs entering the United States. Canadian criminal organizations have used profits from the sale of high-potency BC Bud marijuana to purchase cocaine for redistribution in Canada. In particular, Vietnamese organized crime groups and Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs such as the Hell’s Angels are suspected of heavy involvement in this activity. Crystal methamphetamine is widely available in Washington and distributed by Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations. The greater Yakima Valley is home to large scale drug trafficking organizations responsible for the distribution of drugs throughout the United States. Money laundering and bulk cash smuggling are additional threats in Washington, with organizations engaging in a variety of methods to legitimize and reposition illicit proceeds.
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Press Release of Senator Cantwell: Law Enforcement Target Meth Epidemic and Tide of Gangs Crossing Border
Thursday, February 22,2007
VANCOUVER, WA - Thursday at Vancouver Police Headquarters, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) called on U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to launch a formal investigation into possible connections between gangs and meth trafficking. Cantwell made the announcement at a community meeting she convened with Clark County Sheriff Garry Lucas, Vancouver Police Chief Mitch Barker, local drug task force members, community leaders, educators, and health officials to hear firsthand about recent gang activity and possible ties to Washington’s ongoing meth epidemic.

Operation: Allied Against Meth
Attorney General Rob McKenna’s statewide anti-meth strategy to fight Washington’s deadly drug epidemic
Methamphetamine- its production, transportation, distribution and abuse– is the primary drug threat to the Pacific Region. The deadly drug has impacted the entire Pacific Region, but Washington has been hardest hit with:

* Nearly twice the number of methamphetamine labs reported than Oregon and exponentially more than Idaho and Alaska
* The highest number of Federal Drug Seizures of methamphetamine in the Pacific region
* Higher levels of availability of the drug resulting in lower prices than any other state

Children are directly and indirectly placed at risk by meth production and use:
* Children documented at Washington methamphetamine lab sites have increased each year since 2001 to 495 kids in 2004, according to the EPIC Clandestine Laboratory Seizure System. This is almost five times the number of children reported in any other state in the region.
* Babies admitted to the Pediatric Interim Care Center suffering from prenatal methamphetamine exposure exceeded admissions of infants suffering from the effects of any other drug

o In 2004, 49 infants were admitted with methamphetamine exposure compared to 34 for cocaine
o An additional 14 infants were admitted who had been exposed to a combination of amphetamines and cocaine or opiates

This issue impacts the Attorney General’s Office on several fronts, most importantly:
* Increased number of children referred to the state’s Child Protective Services
* Increased call for prosecutorial assistance to handle the rise in property crime, violence and drug cases

Attorney General McKenna is fighting methamphetamine on three major fronts:
Law Enforcement: The Office of Attorney General has hired two additional assistant attorneys general to help enforce and prosecute meth and meth-related crimes.
* Specialized prosecution - At the request of the local prosecutor, the AAGs help charge and prosecute more complicated cases, such as those involving conspiracy, RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations), property forfeiture and other complex economic crimes.
* “SWAT Team” - AAGs are systematically and geographically assigned to assist with case backlogs.
* Cross boundary - AAGs focus on cases that cross county boundaries.
* Clandestine Labs - AAGs focus on investigating and prosecuting lab cases
* Other target crimes - Cases that involve criminal activity connected or related to meth crimes.

Education & Community Outreach: In partnership with community-based and industry associations, the Office of Attorney General’s education program works to increase the awareness and prevent the use of meth.
* Community Meth Action Teams: The Attorney General’s Office strives to include an AAG on every Community Methamphetamine Action team to help them in their efforts to educate citizens and mobilize their local communities.
* School and Community Presentations: AG Rob McKenna has partnered with “Lead On America” and others to make presentations and distribute materials to more than 15,000 students from 25 different schools since May 2005.
* Community Partnerships: Partnering with organizations that represent realtors, builders, farmers, labor and tribes, AG McKenna helped educate their members through materials and presentations about what they can do to prevent meth crimes.

Legislation and Advocacy: In summer 2005, Attorney General McKenna convened the “Operation: Allied Against Meth” task force, a group of:
* State and local law enforcement officials
* Prosecutors
* Business and community representatives
* Treatment providers
* Elected officials.

The task force met throughout the fall of 2005 to evaluate and recommend tools to address Washington’s methamphetamine epidemic.
The Operation: Allied Against Meth bill (Senate Bill 6239) directs $1.575 million in funding each year through 2010 to be split across three new multi-jurisdictional pilot enforcement areas in:
* Pacific, Wahkiakum, Lewis, Grays Harbor and Cowlitz counties;
* Walla Walla, Columbia, Garfield, and Asotin counties; and
* Stevens, Ferry, Pend Oreille, and Lincoln counties.
It also provides a minimum of $4 million in state and federal funding for existing multi-jurisdictional drug task forces and local government drug prosecution assistance.

The bill outlines strategies in public education, clean-up and governance and sentencing to:
* Reduce the number of people addicted to meth
* Increase treatment
* Make sentencing and incarceration more effective for meth addicts.
It was unanimously approved by the Legislature and took effect June 7, 2006.

In Washington State:
Members and leaders of the Lummi Nation of Washington held a cleansing ceremony to burn down a house that was used to sell drugs. The house was being rented to a person who is in jail for drug-dealing. The owners, who were unaware of the activity, agreed to have it burned down. The ceremony was part of increased efforts by the Lummi Nation to combat drugs and crime on the reservation. Since January 2004, 21 people have been charged with drug dealing, resulting in 15 convictions and five pending trials. The tribe has opened a youth treatment facility and a youth safe house.
Darrell Hillaire, the chairman of the Lummi Nation of Washington, reported similar problems. He said 41 percent of the 1,200 children born on the reservation in the last 10 years have been affected by drugs like meth. “That’s unacceptable,” said Hillaire, whose tribe was recently featured in a front-page New York Times story about a tribal member who oversaw a drug ring that smuggled meth into Washington from Canada.

Senate Passes Cantwell-Backed Legislation to Give Tribes Access to Anti-Meth Funds
U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) applauded the Senate’s unanimous approval of legislation to give tribes with law enforcement capacity access to two vital anti-meth grant programs. Congress approved funding for the Meth Hot Spots Program and the Drug-Endangered Children Program earlier this year as part of legislation to re-authorize the Patriot Act, but failed to list tribes as possible recipients of grants under the programs. The Native American Methamphetamine bill, introduced by Senators Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) and John McCain (R-AZ) and backed by Cantwell, would guarantee tribes access to both programs. The legislation must still pass the House of Representatives.
“Indian country faces a growing meth epidemic with devastating consequences,” said Cantwell, a member of the Indian Affairs Committee. “Today’s action will help open important anti-meth programs to tribes, and will help stop meth-production, meth-trafficking, and meth-related crimes on tribal lands across our country. We must redouble our efforts to aid tribal governments and local law enforcement in their fight against this dangerous, debilitating drug.”
The re-authorization of the Patriot Act authorized new funding for three grant programs within the Department of Justice: the COPS Hot Spots program, the Drug-Endangered Children program, and the Pregnant and Parenting Women Offenders program.

Specifically, the Patriot Act:
-Authorized $99 million for the COPS Hot Spots Grant Program, which provides grants to states and communities to clean up meth labs, purchase equipment, and train state and local law enforcement officials to investigate and convict meth offenders. Tribes were not included as eligible applicants.
-Authorized $20 million for a Drug-Endangered Children Grant Program to help children found on meth sites. Tribes were not included as eligible applicants.
-Authorized funding for the Pregnant and Parenting Women Offenders Grant Program to reduce the use of drugs by pregnant women and those with dependent children. Tribes were included as eligible applicants, but clarifying language is needed to ensure that there is adequate coordination with tribal service providers.
The Native American Methamphetamine bill, passed by the Senate Friday, would ensure that tribes can apply for funding under all three of these programs.

Washington

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