Illegal Drugs
Floor Speech
ILLEGAL DRUGS -- (Senate - September 22, 2008)
Mr. GRASSLEY. Madam President, I am going to now visit about an issue I often visit with my colleagues about, the issue of drugs, because I served with Senator Biden as cochairman of the drug caucus.
As a parent and now grandparent, I remain deeply concerned about the hazardous environment to which our children are exposed. Every day, we see more and more heartbreaking stories of a child being victimized in one way or another. Some of the most disturbing trends involve deadly drugs and our own kids. More specifically, there is an alarming number of kids who are being exposed to environments where illegal drugs are being manufactured and sold. Kids are also falling prey to unscrupulous drug dealers who are disguising highly addictive drugs to make them appear as if they were candy. I believe we have a moral obligation in this country to ensure our young people have every opportunity to grow up without being accosted by drug pushers at every turn, whether it is on TV in the home or on the way to school.
As a Senator representing a State that has been among the hardest hit by the scourge of methamphetamine abuse, I have witnessed firsthand how this horrible drug has devastated individual lives and families. I have seen the havoc wreaked on the environment as well as the child welfare system. I have listened to the horror stories of those caught in the grips of addiction. This is why I joined a number of my colleagues in passing the Combat Meth Act of 2005. This landmark legislation has shown dramatic results in decreasing the number of clandestine meth labs and increasing methamphetamine seizures.
While this is certainly welcome news, particularly for our first responders and local law enforcement community, meth labs in our communities are still a reality. For instance, in 2006, there were still over 6,400 clandestine meth lab incidents throughout the country. In my home State of Iowa, we have seen an 88-percent decrease in the number of meth lab incidents since 2004 when the Iowa Legislature passed a very important piece of legislation cutting down on the number of labs. Yet there were still 240 incidents of clandestine labs last year alone.
The Combat Meth Act has been particularly helpful in cutting down on mom-and-pop meth labs. However, our efforts have given rise to new and more disturbing instances of meth production, trafficking, and abuse that are becoming more prevalent throughout our country.
A case in point can be found in the State of Missouri, where police recently made seven meth-related arrests in just as many hours in the tiny quiet town of Ozark. The house where these arrests were made belonged to a 45-year-old grandmother, who was babysitting her infant grandson while his mother was away at school. Upon her arrest, she admitted using meth but denied that she was a dealer. However, while police searched the house, six more individuals were picked up on meth-related charges.
When it was all said and done, three children under the age of 3 watched as the police arrested their parent or grandparent for selling or possessing this terrible drug.
Sadly, this is not an unusual incident. We have here a picture of a baby. Scenes such as the one depicted on this chart are seen throughout the country. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration--DEA, as we call it around this town--more than 12,000 children throughout the country have been affected, injured, or killed at meth lab sites since 2002. Thousands more have been sent to foster homes or were victims of meth-related abuse in the home during the same period.
In my State of Iowa, the Department of Human Services reports that over 1,000 children over the past 4 years were classified as victims of abuse and that nearly half of child abuse cases have been meth-related. In 2006, there were 107 reported cases of child abuse where meth was manufactured in the presence of a minor.
Due to the shocking number of children who were being victimized by drugs in one form or another, I joined my colleagues in supporting a bill called the Drug Endangered Children Act of 2005.
This bipartisan legislation established a national grant program to support state Drug Endangered Children--DEC programs. These programs assist local law enforcement, medical services, and child welfare workers to ensure that victimized children receive proper attention and treatment after living in these terrible environments.
DEC programs greatly benefit local law enforcement by helping law enforcement coordinate in close cooperation with the Department of Human Services. This ensures a seamless coverage of child welfare and law enforcement joint operations. I am pleased to report that since this program was implemented a large number of communities throughout the Nation have formed multi-disciplinary alliances for the benefit of drug-exposed children. There are 16 communities throughout Iowa that have set up DEC programs and more are in the process of setting up additional programs.
Unfortunately, the authorization for this grant program expired for fiscal year 2008. That is why Senator Feinstein and I introduced S. 1210, the Drug Endangered Children Act of 2007. This legislation would reauthorize this important grant program for an additional 2 years to assist States in coordinating law enforcement, medical services, and child welfare efforts to ensure children found in such environments receive appropriate attention and care. The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously reported this bipartisan legislation to the floor. I urge my colleagues to join us in support of this important legislation and pass the Drug Endangered Children Act of 2007.
As cochairman of the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control, I can tell you that the most at-risk population for drug abuse is our young people. Research has shown time and again that if you keep children drug-free until they turn 20, chances are very slim that they will ever try or become addicted to drugs. Unfortunately, unscrupulous drug dealers are all too aware of statistics like these. They have developed new techniques and marketing gimmicks to lure in younger users. The DEA and the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy have recently issued warnings about highly addictive and dangerous drugs being colored, packaged, and flavored in ways that appear to attract use by children.
These drug dealers are flavoring drugs with additives to make them taste like candy. For instance, some drugs that have been recovered by the DEA and local law enforcement have been flavored to taste like strawberry. I have two charts just to show you the seriousness of this problem. One of these charts is of the popular novelty candy ``Pop Rocks.'' The other is of some strawberry-flavored methamphetamine, which is known on the street as ``Strawberry Quick,'' that was seized by police during a traffic stop in Missouri. You can see how similar these two products appear. It would be very difficult for a child to distinguish between these two.
Other flavors, such as lemon, coconut, cinnamon and chocolate are clearly being used to make highly addictive and dangerous drugs seem less harmful and more appealing. These flavored drugs are also being marketed in smaller amounts, making it cheaper and more accessible to children. According to an article in USA Today, at least eight States have reported instances involving candy-flavored drugs, and many law enforcement officials are expecting these deadly substances to infiltrate their communities in the near future.
Meth is not the only drug that is being flavored or disguised by drug dealers. The DEA recently arrested three men in an undercover operation in California where candy flavored cocaine was being distributed. The DEA seized at least four different flavors of cocaine along with other dangerous substances. The estimated street value of the flavored cocaine seized in this operation was over $272,000.
The DEA also arrested 12 people in connection to a marijuana-laced candy operation in 2006. The marijuana-laced candy that was seized in this operation was packaged to look like well-known brand name candy bars. You can see in this chart, all the varieties of marijuana-laced candy that this operation produced. Once again, you can see how it would be difficult for a child to distinguish between these marijuana candies and the real product. These drug busts further illustrate the fact that drug dealers will stop at nothing to hook a new generation on these deadly drugs.
Due to the growing trend of these candy-flavored drugs, I joined Senator Feinstein in co-sponsoring S. 1211, the Saving Kids from Dangerous Drugs Act of 2008, a bill that ought to currently move forward. Currently, Federal law enhances the criminal penalties that apply when a person sells drugs to anyone under the age of 21. When this occurs, the Federal penalties are doubled--or tripled for a repeat offense--and a mandatory minimum of at least 1 year must also apply. However, this penalty applies only to someone who actually sells drugs to someone under 21.
The Saving Kids from Dangerous Drugs Act, as amended in the Judiciary Committee, would expand the circumstances under which these enhanced penalties apply to cover the entire operation. Under our bill, the enhanced penalties that already exist would also apply to anyone over 18 years of age who knowingly or intentionally manufactures, creates, distributes, dispenses or possesses a schedule I or II controlled substance that has been combined with a candy product, is marketed or packaged as if it were similar to a candy product, or has been modified by flavoring or coloring with the intent to distribute, or sell that controlled substance to a person under 21 years of age. The DEA busts are prime examples of why we need this bipartisan bill to keep drug dealers from pedaling their poison to our children.
The fight against deadly drugs is an ongoing struggle. We must continue to do all we can to protect the most vulnerable among us. We must send a clear message to those wishing to prey on our youth that you risk serious prison time when you target our future. The National Narcotics Officers Associations Coalition is strongly supporting this measure. This organization represents 69,000 law enforcement officers who encounter these terrible substances on a daily basis and work endlessly to keep our children and communities safe. I am pleased that my colleagues on the Judiciary Committee overwhelmingly voted in favor of reporting this important legislation to the floor. I urge all of my colleagues to join us in passing the Saving Kids from Dangerous Drugs Act of 2008.
I urge all my colleagues to join us--meaning myself and Senator Feinstein, the main sponsors of the bill--in passing the Saving Kids From Dangerous Drugs Act of 2008.
I yield the floor.
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