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Judge speaks on meth use
By Joe Palmersheim
Published:
Thursday, April 22, 2004
Judge Paul Widdick believes that he knows a lot about drugs because he's the judge in the Seventh Court District in charge of sentencing drug offenders.
Widdick has been involved in law for 25 years and has been serving as a judge for the past 15.�
"My appointment only covers the Seventh District, but technically, the Supreme Court Justice could assign me to a case anywhere in Minnesota," Widdick said.
Drug trends change every year, Widdick said. He has seen the rise in certain trends from behind the gavel.
"There's been extraordinary growth in the use of amphetamines," he said. "I think that the number of persons who use drugs maybe has not increased, but they tend to be using stuff that's a little crazier."
According to The National Drug Intelligence Center (NDIC) Web site, Minnesota has seen an increase in the use of methamphetamines. Publicly funded meth-related clinical use has increased from 478 in 1994 to 1,698 in 2000.
When a meth user is caught, the punishment varies according to amount in possession and intent of dealing.
"Those are really distinguishable," Widdick said. "Possession of a so-called 'small amount' would usually result in some sort of local jail sentence and usually a probationary period. For sale, you ratchet it up. In fact, a first-time sale (offense) could land you in prison forever. I think the legislature is talking about making those penalties even stiffer."
Widdick has two theories for why meth use has increased.
"First of all, you can manufacture it." Widdick said. "Guys can make meth in the bathtub if they know what they are doing."
According to the NDIC the number of meth laboratories seized in Minnesota increased from 21 in 1997 to 232 in 2001.
Widdick's second theory involves bikers.
"Methamphetamines were the drug of choice for years among the biker crowd," he said. "They have a fairly significant connection out in rural areas where it's easy to distribute the stuff. So you've got an audience and you've got manufacture and distribution."
Another factor for the drug's spread might be that it's fairly inexpensive compared to other drugs, Widdick said.
According to the NDIC Web site, in the first quarter of 2002, meth sold for $80 to $150 per gram, $600 to $1,500 per ounce and $6,000 to $14,000 per pound.
Retail purity, however, is low. In 2001 the Minneapolis Public Health Laboratory reported that the purity of methamphetamine submitted to the laboratory for testing averaged 13.9 percent.
As with most drug trends, methamphetamine can have a significant impact on society.
"Methamphetamine, if you are the user, begins to destroy you physically," Widdick said. "They forget to eat, they'll use needles and they'll stay up for days because they're artificially high as a kite."
Widdick said that not all methamphetamine users are prone to violence. It depends on the person using the drug.
"To be candid with you, I'm not sure there's a lot that they (the public) can do," he said. "The police catch a ton of these people, but there are always new recruits."
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