DEMOCRATS HALT METH BILL

WASHINGTON -- House Democrats blocked a controversial drug-censorship bill
from being approved by the Judiciary committee on Wednesday.

H.R. 2987, also known as the Methamphetamine Anti-Proliferation Act of
1999, was scheduled for a full-committee markup Wednesday but was postponed
due to Democratic concerns over proposed amendments which came as a
surprise to Democrats on the committee.

Rep. Robert Scott (D-Va.) chided Republicans on the committee, arguing that
amendments proposed in a substitute bill Tuesday night by Rep. Bill
McCollum (R-Fl.) significantly changed the bill and that more time was
necessary to review them.

The amendments in question proposed mandatory minimums for those found in
violation of the act and included Ecstasy and similar narcotics in a "Club
Drug Proliferation" section.

"This is a deplorable process. In effect, we've been sandbagged on this
bill," Scott said. "We certainly have the right to know what we're marking
up. I feel it unfortunate that the majority has chosen to act this way."

The bill, supported by law enforcement but opposed by civil liberty and
anti-drug-war groups, was already under scrutiny for its potential
infringements on certain constitutional rights. The bill as it is written
would make it a crime to link to illegal drug-related websites and also
give police the power to enter homes to do secret searches.

One portion of the bill would make it a crime "to teach or demonstrate the
manufacture of a controlled substance." Another section would allow police
to surreptitiously enter someone's house with a warrant without telling
them about it -- a notification that currently is required by law.

"You have all sorts of First Amendment problems with that," Marv Johnson,
legislative counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union, told Wired News
in May, when the House bill was first being debated.

"Nobody knows what part is going to get you in trouble. If you teach
someone how to use a Bunsen burner, is this sufficient to get you indicted?
Nobody really knows," Johnson said.

Proponents of the methamphetamine bill -- the Senate has already
unanimously approved a similar measure -- said it's necessary to shut meth
labs and combat the illegal drug market.

Since the House version, sponsored by Representative Chris Cannon and 19
other members of Congress, is different from the Senate bill, a conference
committee would be necessary to reconcile the two pieces of legislation.

To avoid that possibility, some House Judiciary Committee members are
considering replacing Cannon's bill with the Senate legislation.

The Committee plans to readdress the bill on Tuesday.