2005-01-21                     Senate Journal                      Page 0105
Dear President Stevens:                                                                             
                                                                                                    
Under the authority of art. III, sec. 18, of the Alaska Constitution, I am                          
transmitting a bill that would make it manslaughter for a person to                                 
manufacture or deliver a controlled substance in violation of Alaska's                              
drug laws if a person dies from ingesting the substance.  The bill also                             
would make it a class C felony to manufacture or attempt to                                         
manufacture methamphetamine in building where one or more                                           
children reside.  It also would raise the penalty for possessing                                    
methamphetamine in solution with intent to extract methamphetamine                                  
salts from it.                                                                                      
                                                                                                    
In Whitesides v. State, 88 P. 3d 147 (Alaska App. 2004), the court held                             
that the sentence for a person convicted of selling a controlled                                    
substance to another, when the other person dies as a result of                                     
ingesting the illegal substance, should not be enhanced by the                                      
occurrence of death.  The court found that death caused by the                                      
controlled substance is not an aggravating factor under current law.                                
This bill would provide that if a person manufactures or delivers a                                 
controlled substance that causes death, the person may be prosecuted                                
for manslaughter.                                                                                   
                                                                                                    
According to the Alaska State Troopers Bureau of Alcohol and Drug                                   
Enforcement, the manufacture and distribution of methamphetamine in                                 
Alaska has reached alarming proportions.  In 2003, a total of 66                                    
clandestine labs were discovered in Alaska.  Manufacturing                                          
methamphetamine is very dangerous and involves the use of ignitable,                                
reactive, and toxic chemicals at the sites, which can result in                                     
explosions, fires, and toxic fumes.  Children are particularly                                      
susceptible to the harmful effects of the chemicals used in the                                     
manufacture of methamphetamine.                                                                     
                                                                                                    
This bill would make it a class C felony to manufacture or attempt to                               
manufacture methamphetamine in a building with reckless disregard                                   
that the building is a dwelling for one or more children.  This                                     
prohibition would apply to apartment units and other rooms or offices                               
that are a part of the building.