Volume 142, No. 34 covering the 2nd Session of the 104th Congress (1995 - 1996) was published by the Congressional Record.
The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“METHAMPHETAMINE CONTROL ACT OF 1996” mentioning the Environmental Protection Agency was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E330 on March 13, 1996.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
METHAMPHETAMINE CONTROL ACT OF 1996
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HON. VIC FAZIO
of california
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, March 12, 1996
Mr. FAZIO of California. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce legislation which will be a powerful tool in the fight against methamphetamine production and usage in our country.
The production and usage of methamphetamine, also known as meth, speed, crank, or ice, in the United States has grown alarmingly over the last several years. Meth has accounted for a dramatic escalation in the number of overdoses, emergency hospital admissions, drug shootings, and related violence in America's largest western cities and rural areas. Meth has unfortunately become the crack of the 1990's.
Meth causes psychotic and violent reactions in its users because it interferes with the brain's production of the natural chemical dopamine which plays an important role in governing movement, thought, and emotion. Users can go on binges which last as long as 24 hours and result in permanent psychological and physical injury. While most users are young males, meth has inevitably affected the very young. In fact, a generation of meth-addicted crank babies requiring constant care is rapidly filling our Nation's hospitals. These babies appear comatose, often sleeping 24 hours a day. Caretakers are forced to wake them in order to feed them, forcing their mouths open to accept nourishment.
Meth-related deaths increased nationally by 145 percent between 1992 and 1994. In California, which has been identified by the Drug Enforcement Administration as a source country of methamphetamine, more than 400 deaths and suicides have been blamed on meth use. Other States have reported similar record numbers.
Meth production also poses severe environmental problems. It literally poisons the communities where it is produced. For every pound of meth that is produced, seven gallons of waste are also produced. A record 465 meth labs were seized in California in 1995, each a toxic waste site requiring immediate and expensive cleanup by hazardous materials teams. In rural areas, this waste is dumped into waterways and on to fertile farming soil. In 5 to 10 years, this poisonous sludge is found in the ground water of nearby communities. In urban areas, abandoned meth labs in apartment buildings make these units and buildings virtually uninhabitable.
This bill is a straightforward solution to the problems created by meth production and usage. First, the bill establishes new controls over the key chemicals necessary to manufacture meth by forcing chemical supply houses to control more strictly the sale of the legal substances which are the precursor chemicals of methamphetamine. Second, the bill increases the criminal sentences for possession and distribution of these chemicals or of the specialized equipment used to make meth. Civil penalties collected will be used by the Environmental Protection Agency to clean up clandestine meth labs seized by law enforcement.
The problems posed by meth are real. This highly addictive drug is cheap, readily available, and easy to manufacture. By more closely regulating the raw materials used to manufacture methamphetamine and by strengthening the criminal penalties for possession of key chemicals and meth paraphernalia, this bill will be an excellent tool in the war against the crank cartels.
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