SENATE MEMORIAL 7

48th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2008

INTRODUCED BY

Joseph J. Carraro

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE GOVERNOR TO CALL OUT THE NEW MEXICO NATIONAL GUARD TO CLOSE THE STATE'S BORDER WITH THE REPUBLIC OF MEXICO IN ORDER TO STOP THE FLOW OF METHAMPHETAMINE FROM THE REPUBLIC OF MEXICO INTO NEW MEXICO.

     WHEREAS, methamphetamine is rapidly becoming the local drug of choice in New Mexico's communities and is having an overwhelming impact on local law enforcement and the criminal justice system; and

     WHEREAS, methamphetamine is a criminal-lifestyle drug and fuels a broad range of felony criminal activities, including automobile theft, forgery, credit-card fraud, identity theft, mail theft, burglary and shoplifting; and

     WHEREAS, a crackdown on methamphetamine laboratories in the United States and tightened control over the chemicals used to make the drug have sparked a proliferation of methamphetamine production in the Republic of Mexico, including production from so-called superlabs that can make twenty times more methamphetamine than the large clandestine methamphetamine laboratories in the United States; and

     WHEREAS, with fewer law enforcement resources in the Republic of Mexico dedicated to eliminating methamphetamine, and with Mexican drug cartels importing from Asia vast quantities of the precursor drugs and chemicals needed to manufacture methamphetamine, there has been an increase in the amount of methamphetamine seized in the Republic of Mexico and at ports of entry along the southwest border of the United States; and

     WHEREAS, Mexican drug cartels are increasingly producing a form of methamphetamine called crystal methamphetamine, or "ice", which is far purer, and therefore even more highly addictive, than powdered, home-cooked methamphetamine; and

     WHEREAS, ice leads to a greater risk of overdose and because ice costs more, thefts are increasing as people who once manufactured methamphetamine at home now have to buy it;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the governor be requested to call out the New Mexico national guard to close and patrol the border between New Mexico and the Republic of Mexico in order to protect the citizens of New Mexico and the United States from the scourge of methamphetamine; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this memorial be transmitted to the governor.

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