For Immediate Release:
Wednesday, June 7, 2006

WASHINGTON D.C. - Congressman Dan Boren met today with Drug Czar John Walters on a federal strategy unveiled last week aimed at dramatically reducing methamphetamine use in America.  Boren and other members of the bipartisan Congressional Caucus to Fight and Control Methamphetamine were briefed by Walters, the nation’s top drug policy official, on the federal government’s first formal plan to address methamphetamine.

 

“We’ve done what we can at the state and local level to combat meth,” Boren said.  “With most of it now coming from Mexico, it’s time for a federal strategy to address the problem.”

 

The Synthetic Drug Control Strategy calls for a 15 percent reduction in methamphetamine use and a 25 percent reduction in domestic meth labs over the next three years.  It takes a three-tiered approach, including effective implementation of a national precursor sales restriction, cracking down on the global market for precursor chemicals, and strengthening law enforcement activities along the border with Mexico.

 

“After considerable pressure from Congress our national drug policy is now better equipped to address methamphetamine,” Boren said.  “This has been treated as a regional problem for years.  The administration has finally recognized this is a national problem that needs a national solution.”

 

Boren has advocated for tough anti-meth laws since being elected to Congress.  The first piece of legislation he introduced was an anti-meth bill modeled after Oklahoma’s state law that puts pseudoephedrine-containing products behind pharmacy counters.  Provisions like this were included in the Combat Meth Act passed by Congress and signed into law earlier this year.

 

In September 2005 Boren pressed the administration to address the connection between illegal immigration and the flow of Mexican-made meth into the country.  In December 2005 the House of Representatives passed a border security measure aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration.  “We have to know what is coming across our borders before we can effectively crack down on meth,” Boren said.

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