DEATH * BY * METH

This is dedicated to Travis Holappa who was kidnapped, tortured and murdered on July 25, 2004 in Northern Minnesota. This was all due to meth. I am Travis' mother and I wish to make this devastation turn into a better thing by educating and exposing the truth about meth, the dangers, and the deadly consequences it brings about to individuals and communities.

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Location: Colorado, United States

I want to do what I can to educate people about what is going on around the world with the meth problem. I want people to know about it BEFORE they even get the idea to want to try it. It is a dangerous drug and will ruin your life as well as all those who love you. I am on a mission on behalf of my only son, Travis.

Sunday, July 30, 2006

Hatch unveils meth, gang initiative (Minnesota)

Chemical companies would also be held accountable
Bill Hanna
Mesabi Daily News



VIRGINIA — DFL Party gubernatorial candidate Mike Hatch Thursday unveiled a five-part proposal to combat meth use and gang violence in the state. It’s a proposal that includes what he knows will be a controversial element — holding chemical companies responsible for lax security in the shipping of ingredients used to make the highly addictive meth.

“The methamphetamine problem was not even on the public or government radar in 1999 when I came to the attorney general’s office. Now it’s one of the biggest problems facing the state,” Hatch said during a visit to Virginia.

Hatch’s proposal takes direct aim at what he said was a lack of a proactive approach to problems by the administration of Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty. He said Pawlenty “... takes a reactive, Band-aid approach to government policy.”

The proposal includes:


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• A comprehensive statewide gang strike force, which he said had funds slashed by Pawlenty since he became governor in 2003. “In fact, the Attorney General’s Office transferred money to the Gang Strike Force in order for a skeleton staff to keep it alive,” he said. The attorney general said that Pawlenty “eventually decimated the statewide nature of the Strike Force by creating a limited Metropolitan Gang Strike Force and by transferring the function in Greater Minnesota to multi-county drug task forces that do not operate on a statewide basis.”

“Our Strike Force will be strongly supported by our administration. It will be well-funded. It will be tough. It will be effective.”

• More “boots on the ground,” according to Hatch, referring to police at local levels. He said as governor he would push Congress to restore federal funds for local police.

• He would also work with the Legislature to increase Local Government Aid, which he said would help get more police on the streets. “The Pawlenty cuts to municipalities reduce the size of police forces around the state. This must be reversed.”

• A treatment plan to deal with meth addiction. He noted that the most recent legislative action called for a “study” of the most effective treatment method for meth addiction. “We need to quit studying this issue and start fighting it,” he said.

• And Hatch admitted the most controversial point of his proposal deals with companies that manufacture ephedrine and pseudoephidrine in other countries. “It is estimated that 20 percent of this chemical ends up in illegal meth labs. No company can lose 20 percent of its product without willingly allowing it to happen,” he said. Hatch questions whether the drug, which is manufactured in nine countries and banned in Europe, should even be allowed in the United States.

“We can send a shot across their bow. When the lawyers and investors and top officials of companies dealing in this drug realize a state or states mean business we will see change,” Hatch said.

http://www.virginiamn.com/mdn/index.php?sect_rank=1&story_id=206690

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