Illinois has followed Tennessee’s lead in establishing an public registry for meth manufacturers.
Like sex offenders and tax dodgers, methamphetamine makers are now being listed on Internet registries in several states.
Tennessee brought the nation’s first such registry online in 2005, and it now carries information on almost 400 convicted meth manufacturers, according to the state Bureau of Investigations. In Illinois, Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) signed a law June 4 creating a convicted meth manufacturer registry .
The registries mark a new tool for states in combating the abuse and production of the illegal drug, also known as crystal meth, ice, glass and speed. It can cause stroke, paranoia, anxiety, delusions and violent behavior, as well as damage to blood vessels and skin abscesses in those who inject the drug, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Meth production labs are dangerous, smelly and toxic to children exposed to the fumes. Nearly all states already have laws limiting sales of cold tablets containing pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient in meth production.
At least four states — Georgia, Oklahoma, Washington and West Virginia — have bills pending that would create a meth-maker registry. An Oregon bill would require the state to alert residents — whether through an Internet registry or other means — when a convicted meth maker is released from prison into their area. And Montana has included meth makers in its sexual and violent offender registry since 2003, though it does not list them separately.
Because as we all know, the best way to prevent recidivism is to make it impossible for an ex-con to enjoy any semblance of a normal life. After all, when a person is ostracized by their neighbors and subject to all sorts of threats, that would in no way provide an incentive for that person to return to crime or drugs, right?
Heck, while we’re at it, why not just have a registry for all crimes, ever? After all, I’m sure that you want to know if your neighbor has ever had a speeding ticket, run a stop light, got caught drinking underage (sure he’s 40 now, but that just means he has twenty years of flagrant lawbreaking behind him!). After all, you have children to think about. Besides, those scumbags should have thought about the consequences of their action. We have to protect ourselves–because it’s not like people are capable of change, you know?
In fact, maybe even just crimes aren’t enough. Dammit, you have a right to know if your neighbor was found liable in a civil suit, too, don’t you? I mean, maybe one time he lost a case in court because his fence encroached his neighbor’s yard in his old house. Now his fence might be encroaching your property!
Of course, once you start having all of these registries, it’s impossible to keep track of all the information about a particular person. The solution to this is obvious, of course. People should be forced to wear some kind of lettering or symbol that let’s people know that they were guilty of a crime, or found liable in a suit. Nothing as uncivilized as branding or tatooing–yet, anyway. Say, for example, you live in a state that doesn’t have no-fault divorce. But he commits adultery and his wife divorces him. Don’t you, as a single woman living in that neighborhood and thinks he’s kind of cute, have the right to know about his past? Shouldn’t he have to wear oh, say, a scarlet “A” on his jacket so that you know he’s an adulterer?
Really, this is the only system that makes sense. After all, innocent people have nothing to hide, right? Now, about that porch you have that’s 8″ wider than the city zoning ordinance allows…
(link via Radley Balko)
