CARSON CITY -- A bill aimed at getting meth addicts into treatment might instead lead to them being thrown into prison, public defenders testified Wednesday in an Assembly subcommittee.
Cotter Conway, lobbyist for the Washoe County Public Defender's Office, said the bill could make "drug traffickers" out of low-level methamphetamine users and "lead to them being put away for two years." Drug traffickers are not eligible for drug rehabilitation programs offered outside of prisons, he said.
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Assemblyman John Carpenter, R-Elko, introduced Assembly Bill 116, assuming that it would induce judges in his district to require more meth addicts to enroll in treatment programs, he said.
"Many have access to so much money now that they bail out (of jail) immediately," said Carpenter during an Assembly Judiciary Committee hearing. "The drug is so addictive. They then commit other crimes. It takes three or more times to get them into treatment."
Under his bill, a person caught with three to 14 grams of methamphetamine would be charged as a category B felon drug trafficker and sentenced to two to 10 years in prison.
The law now sets possession of at least four grams of methamphetamine as the threshold for felony charges and calls for a sentence of one to six years in prison.
Under Carpenter's proposal, the same sentences and possession amounts would apply to traffickers of Rohypnol, the so-called date-rape drug.
Jason Frierson, a lobbyist for the Clark County Public Defender's Office, pointed out that three grams of meth is a very small amount, equivalent to three restaurant packets of artificial sweetener.
"The statutes require mandatory prison time for trafficking," he said. "A lot of instances (involving people in possession of three grams of meth), these are people with drugs for personal use."
Neither Frierson nor Conway knew how much meth a typical user consumes during one drug-use session.
"It is not uncommon for personal users to purchase it (three or four grams) on a weekly basis," Conway said.
"Will we be getting the casual user" and charging him with a felony under the proposed law, asked Assemblyman James Ohrenschall, D-Las Vegas.
Conway said the meth traffickers his office represents usually have more than 28 grams of the drug in their possession.
Assembly Minority Leader Garn Mabey, R-Las Vegas, who is a physician, pointed out the "flunitrazepam" identified in the bill is better known as Rohypnol. In an interview, Mabey said three grams of flunitrazepam is enough to make 3,000 date-rape drug pills. "That is a very large amount," he said.
Judiciary Committee Chairman Bernie Anderson, D-Las Vegas, wondered if the bill would lead to more overcrowding in jails and prisons. Anderson advised Carpenter to meet with the public defenders and "tweak" the bill to come up with an acceptable version.
