Methamphetamine Crisis in Missouri Senator Ashcroft won Senate passage of major methamphetamine legislation, S. 486, “The Methamphetamine Anti-proliferation Act of 1999,” that has been endorsed by the Administration’s top drug law enforcer. This bill includes reforming Federal Sentencing Guidelines for meth offenders; expanding federal drug paraphernalia laws to cover equipment used to make and ingest meth; and increasing federal funding for local law enforcement, school-based education and prevention programs, and improving addict rehabilitation. The bill also authorizes $55 million in new funds for FY 2000 for meth enforcement, training, prevention and treatment.

Senator Ashcroft has played an integral role as a leader in combating the methamphetamine crisis in Missouri and throughout the country by:

holding field hearings to discuss strategies to fight the spread of meth; creating the Missouri Coalition on Crime and Violence to stay in close touch with law enforcement officers who are battling meth daily in our communities; supporting increases in funding to fight the growth of this deadly drug; and sponsoring increases in the penalties for those individuals who manufacture meth. Senator Ashcroft successfully pushed to have Missouri designated by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) as part of the Midwest High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA), thereby securing increased funding for anti-meth efforts in Missouri. “The meth front in the drug war threatens communities all over Missouri. Because meth is inexpensive to make, young people are a particular target for meth criminals. The craving for meth leads users to commit other crimes. In the early 1990s, meth was somebody else’s problem. Today, it is Missouri’s most urgent crime problem. The Senate’s action today on my plan opens the door to new help with education funds, more dollars for law enforcement, and stiffer penalties for meth criminals. Much remains to be done, but this is a big step in the right direction.”