Senate Approves Resolution on Methamphetamine Awareness

On November 16, the Senate approved, by unanimous consent, a resolution (S. Res. 366) designating November 2007 as “National Methamphetamine Awareness Month.” The Senate Judiciary Committee approved the resolution by unanimous consent on November 15.

Sponsored by Sen. Max Baucus (D-MT), the resolution contains a number of findings, including:

• the National Association of Counties found that methamphetamine is the number one illegal drug problem for 47 percent of the counties in the United States, a higher percentage than that of any other drug;
• the profile of methamphetamine users is changing, as three-fifths of the nation’s sheriffs report increased methamphetamine use by women and half of the nation’s sheriffs report increased use by teens;
• the highest rates of methamphetamine use among all ethnic groups occur within Native American communities; and
• in surveys on the abuse of methamphetamine among teens, many of the respondents said that the drug was easy to get and believed there is little risk in trying it.