Once limited to Kansas City and Southwest Missouri, methamphetamines have spread across the state, prompting law enforcement throughout Missouri to say weak laws limit their ability to tackle the problem. Lawmakers are now responding to those concerns with proposals that would establish some of the toughest meth laws in the country. Meth is more serious than marijuana. Methamphetamine is very similar to crack cocaine. Addicts who take the drug are energized for hours and some are known to stay awake for weeks at a time.
Producers tend to be small-time operators who make the drug for themselves and friends.
The punishment isn't fitting the crime. The Highway Patrol reported seizing 589 meth labs last year, resulting in the arrest of more than 600 people. Local police busted many more. Harrison said convicted meth producers usually only a slap on the wrist, with many going free on bail even before he finishes his paperwork. Frustrated, Harrison lobbied Senate President Pro Tem Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, to sponsor legislation that would impose minimum sentences for those convicted of producing methamphetamine.