Governor signs meth bill

A half dozen Iowans who’ve had relatives become addicted to meth stood behind Governor Tom Vilsack Tuesday as he signed a bill that backers hope will reduce the number of meth labs in the state. Susie Snyder of Mount Pleasant says both of her children got addicted to meth and she was part of a group who met with Governor Vilsack in December to urge more action in the war on meth. “It’s nice to know somebody hears,” she says “I was so proud when we got the invitation (to be at the bill signing ceremony). It meant so much.” Snyder was a schoolmate of First Lady Christie Vilsack, who grew up in Mount Pleasant and Snyder has known the governor, too, since Vilsack made Mount Pleasant his home when he married Christie. Snyder was among a group who tried to pass local ordinances to restrict the sale of cold and allergy medications used by meth-makers, and she’s relieved there’s now a tough state law that puts those medications behind a counter, and forces folks to show an I-D to buy them. “People need to understand…it affects all of us,” she says. Vilsack says the message from Snyder and the others was clear. “They have seen what this poison can do,” Vilsack says. “They implored me as the governor of this state to take action.” Vilsack signed the bill at noon in an outdoor ceremony on the steps of the statehouse. “It occured to me that this is precisely what we want to do with methamphetamine dealers. We want to bring them to the outside. We want to expose them. That’s what this bill is designed to do…so that they’re discouraged from manufacturing this poison and harming our kids,” Vilsack says. Over a dozen lawmen were on hand, too, including Des Moines Police Chief Bill McCarthy. “We know the devastation that the meth epidemic has brought upon us,” McCarthy says. “It was important from the beginning when this thing first came up and the governor said it was going to be one of his priorities that law enforcement got behind it.” McCarthy says Iowa now has the toughest anti-meth legislation in the country. Attorney General Tom Miller was on hand for today’s bill signing ceremony, too. “What a great day for law enforcement in Iowa and more importantly what a great day for Iowans,” he says. “Meth has been such an incredible scourge in our state and while this won’t solve the problem, it’s an enormous step forward.”