S. HRG. 106–1033 EMERGING DRUG THREATS AND PERILS FACING UTAH’S YOUTH HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED SIXTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION JULY 6 AND 7, 2000 SALT LAKE CITY AND CEDAR CITY, UT Serial No. J–106–101 Printed for the use of the Committee on the Judiciary ( U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 73–821 WASHINGTON : 2001 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate 11-MAY-2000 08:05 Sep 13, 2001 Jkt 073821 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 E:\HR\OC\C821.XXX pfrm09 PsN: C821 COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY ORRIN G. HATCH, Utah, Chairman STROM THURMOND, South Carolina PATRICK J. LEAHY, Vermont CHARLES E. GRASSLEY, Iowa EDWARD M. KENNEDY, Massachusetts ARLEN SPECTER, Pennsylvania JOSEPH R. BIDEN, JR., Delaware JON KYL, Arizona HERBERT KOHL, Wisconsin MIKE DEWINE, Ohio DIANNE FEINSTEIN, California JOHN ASHCROFT, Missouri RUSSELL D. FEINGOLD, Wisconsin SPENCER ABRAHAM, Michigan ROBERT G. TORRICELLI, New Jersey JEFF SESSIONS, Alabama CHARLES E. SCHUMER, New York BOB SMITH, New Hampshire MANUS COONEY, Chief Counsel and Staff Director BRUCE A. COHEN, Minority Chief Counsel (II) VerDate 11-MAY-2000 08:03 Sep 13, 2001 Jkt 073821 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 E:\HR\OC\C821.XXX pfrm09 PsN: C821 C O N T E N T S THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2000 STATEMENT OF COMMITTEE MEMBER Page Hatch, Hon. Orrin G., a U.S. Senator from the State of Utah ............................ 1 WITNESSES Anonymous Person .................................................................................................. 43 Allred, Steve, Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Program Manager, Utah County Division, Human Service .............................................................. 41 Bigelow, Sherryl, Mother of a Methamphetamine addicted Teenage Daughter 26 Greiner, Jon, Chief, Ogden City Police Department, Weber/Morgan Task Force ...................................................................................................................... 20 Marshall, Donnie, Administrator, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration ....... 5 Morgan, Kent, Salt Lake County Assistant District Attorney, Narcotics Unit .. 23 Taylor, Colleen, President, Utah, PTA .................................................................. 40 Warner, Paul, U.S. Attorney for Utah ................................................................... 16 Wasden, Roy, Deputy Chief, Salt Lake City Police Department, Head of Narcotics/Metro Task Force ................................................................................ 23 Welch, Shari, M.D., Emergency Room Physician, LDS Hospital ......................... 37 FRIDAY, JULY 7, 2000 STATEMENT OF COMMITTEE MEMBER Hatch, Hon. Orrin G., a U.S. Senator from the State of Utah ............................ 53 WITNESSES Burns, Scott, Iron County Attorney ....................................................................... 65 Corry, Barbara, PTA Regional Director, Region 16, Cedar City, UT, prepared statement .............................................................................................................. 84 Green, Joseph R., District Director, U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, Department of Justice, prepared statement ........................................ 56 Davis, Bradley, Convicted Methamphetamine Manufacturer and Dealer .......... 89 Harmon, Sandy, Program Director for Substance Abuse Treatment, South- west Center ........................................................................................................... 82 Houston, Jana, Family Devastated by Methamphetamine, prepared state- ment ...................................................................................................................... 85 Milne, Tibby, Utah Council for Crime Prevention, prepared statement ............. 78 Mendrala, Don, Assistant Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement Admin- istration ................................................................................................................. 64 Peck, Russell, Captain, St. George Police Department, prepared statement ..... 67 Warner, Paul, U.S. Attorney for Utah, prepared statement ................................ 58 (III) VerDate 11-MAY-2000 08:05 Sep 13, 2001 Jkt 073821 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 E:\HR\OC\C821.XXX pfrm09 PsN: C821 VerDate 11-MAY-2000 08:03 Sep 13, 2001 Jkt 073821 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 E:\HR\OC\C821.XXX pfrm09 PsN: C821 EMERGING DRUG THREATS AND PERILS FACING UTAH’S YOUTH THURSDAY, JULY 6, 2000 U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY, Salt Lake City, UT. The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 1:10 p.m., at Highland High School, 2166 South 1700 East, Salt Lake City, UT, Hon. Orrin G. Hatch (chairman of the committee) presiding. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. ORRIN G. HATCH, A U.S. SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF UTAH Chairman HATCH. Let’s call this committee hearing to order. Good afternoon, we welcome you all to this hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee. I’m holding these hearings both here and in Cedar City examining the existing and emerging threats posed by illicit drugs to Utah’s young people. I’m glad to see so many people here who are as committed, as I am, to focussing attention, educational, and law enforcement re- sources on combating this problem. Let me just recognize some of the very important people we have in attendance today. Joe Green, if you could stand so everybody knows who you are. Joe is doing a great job, we appreciate having you here. Steve Branch, officer in charge of the Salt Lake City Education Service, also doing a great job for us. Greg Deardon, who I have a great deal of admiration for. Greg is over here, the commissioner for the Department of Public Safety for the State of Utah, he’s doing a great job. Camille Anthony. Where’s Camille? Back in the back. Camille is the executive commissioner of Criminal Juvenile Justice. Randal Anderson, U.S. Marshal. Where’s Randy? There he is. We’re honored to have you here. He’s doing a terrific job as U.S. Marshal, one of the best employments we’ve ever made, I think. Margaret Nadol. Margaret, you bet. Margaret is the Young Wom- en’s General President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and she has a tremendous influence over our youth all over the country, especially here in Utah. Mayor Janice Auger, the mayor of Taylorsville, doing some very interesting work in this area. And we’re grateful to have all of you here today. Now, the goal of today’s hearing is to begin a public dialogue on how we can work together to combat the too-little-known dangers of a growing substance abuse problem in our country, but most of (1) VerDate 11-MAY-2000 02:04 Sep 13, 2001 Jkt 073821 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 E:\HR\OC\C821.XXX pfrm03 PsN: C821 2 all in our community. A lot of Utahns don’t realize how significant and serious this is. Most Utahns have never heard of methamphetamine. We know meth is a horrible drug and the labs where it’s manufactured are producing tremendously toxic chemicals that pose risks to whole neighborhoods. Meth’s association with criminal gangs is also very well known. The cycle of drug abuse and gang violence is readily apparent to our fellow Utahns, and to deal with our gang problem we also have to deal with a drug problem. Fewer, however, are aware meth is just one of the so-called, ‘‘club drugs,’’ that are beginning to attract a whole new group of young people in Utah. The drugs known as ‘‘club drugs’’ include meth- amphetamine, Ecstasy, GHB and Rohypnol, and are often used at parties or night clubs. The symptoms of club drug use are showing up everywhere. Utah’s emergency rooms, police departments, schools, and rape cri- sis centers have experienced increases in reported cases, and tragic consequences, of this drug use or should we say abuse. The Utah Rape Recovery Center, for example, received reports of 40 rapes so far this year that are suspected to have involved the club drug called GHB. That figure represents 35 percent of rapes reported to the center this year. Meanwhile, last year, 7.3 percent of Utah high school students reported having used methamphet- amine at least once, and according to the Drug Enforcement Agen- cy (the DEA), law enforcement authorities seized 266 methamphet- amine labs in Utah in 1999. A special danger inherent in these drugs is the fact that many users of club drugs would not consider taking cocaine, LSD, heroin, or marijuana, drugs that are perceived to be more dangerous. But because of misinformation about the risks, these young people knowingly ingest such substances as GHB, so-called ‘‘date rape’’ drug, and are experiencing the problems associated with illicit drug abuse, including overdose, addiction, amnesia, sexual assault, and permanent brain damage. The lack of public awareness about club drugs is luring a whole new population of Utah’s young people into the horrible consequences of illicit drug use. Methamphetamine is a powerfully addictive stimulant that pro- duces increased wakefulness, increased physical activity, decreased appetite, increased respiration, hyperthermia, and euphoria. It can cause convulsions and can result in death. Ecstasy is a synthetic, mind-altering drug with amphetamine- like and hallucinogenic properties. Ecstasy has no accepted medical use and it causes health problems similar to those caused by the use of amphetamines and cocaine. Psychological difficulties