Senate Reclassifies Methamphetamine, Increases Penalties for Delivery of Certain Drugs

The reclassification of methamphetamine as a Schedule I controlled substance means the drug is considered to have a high tendency of abuse and has no accepted medical use.

(SALEM, Ore.) - The Senate passed legislation this morning reclassifying meth to a higher schedule for controlled substances and increasing the penalty for manufacturing or delivering certain drugs when they play a role in a person’s death. Senate Bill 728 passed the Senate 26-2.

“Our caucus has a commitment to cracking down on drug-related crime,” said Deputy Senate Majority Leader Laurie Monnes Anderson (D-Gresham). “Drugs can destroy neighborhoods and families. We take this issue very seriously and will continue to fight against drug abuse.”

The reclassification of methamphetamine as a Schedule I controlled substance means the drug is considered to have a high tendency of abuse and has no accepted medical use. Other examples include Heroin, Ecstasy, and LSD.

“Meth use is a serious problem in communities across Oregon and it should be treated as such,” said Senator Floyd Prozanski (D-Eugene), chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

SB 728 also increases the penalty for manufacturing or delivering a Schedule IV controlled substance if the substance plays a substantial role in causing a death from six months imprisonment and a $2500 fine to five years imprisonment and a $125,000 fine. Examples of Schedule IV drugs include Xanax, Klonopin, Valium, and Ambien.

“Especially as more people begin using prescription drugs for recreational purposes, we need to make sure that those who act recklessly are held accountable,” said Prozanski.

Marijuana was also reclassified today and we will cover that in a separate report.

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Teresa Dunn May 16, 2009 12:52 pm (Pacific time)

This law was initiated by Representative Ted Ferrioli to prevent more deaths from occuring from prescription drugs. As Brandons Mom...I find it extremely difficult to accept the fact that Salem has somehow connected Methamphetamines and Marijuana to prescription drugs. My son was an awesome young man and died from his own legal prescription Zoloft and an illegal ten milligram pill of MethADONE. Shame on Salem and the writer for throwing all of these drugs together! Please visit Mothers against medical abuse.org

Editor: Theresa, we don't mean to present a story without all of the facts. Our staff is small and we were not at the capitol that day; this is a news release and I added the part about marijuana at the bottom. I'd be happy to bring our viewers a complete understanding of this, I will check the site you mentioned and you can contact me at tim@salem-news.com

Mark Montgomery May 13, 2009 7:41 pm (Pacific time)

You can bust every meth lab and meth user you can come up with and you will not even START to put a dent in the huge demand for meth. Meth addicts LOVE their meth and if you shut down the local labs then the Mexican mafia will simply increase the amount of meth it exports into the USA to meet the new demand. Methamphetamine should be legal. Mexico just legalized possession of small amounts of drugs. Switzerland reaffirmed its legal heroin system. Portugal decriminalized all drugs in 2001. Legalizing meth would kill meth labs, meth houses and the meth mafia overnight. A group of 10,000 very serious policemen, prosecutors, attorneys and citizens have formed a group to legalize ALL drugs, Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (http://leap.cc ) They see what happened when we legalized alcohol in 1932 as a good example of how drug legalization would work. They're sick of chasing drug users and sending innocent people to prison for decades just because they like to get high. This foolish war on drugs has lasted 37 years and cost us over a TRILLION dollars and we are not an inch closer to stopping drugs. Mark Montgomery boboberg@nyc.rr.com

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