Lawmakers in Helena are calling for what’s being billed as the “Montana Meth Summit”, a gathering of lawmakers and government officials to talk about the impacts of meth in Montana. Senator Eric Moore, a Republican from Miles City, and Senator Diane Sands, a Missoula Democrat, stood in the Capitol Tuesday afternoon, as they announced a listening session to discuss the trends of meth use across the state."We have two goals by holding this forum and they are very straight forward," says Senator Moore. "One is to call attention to this problem; the other is to seek collaboration, cooperation and prioritization with state, local and federal agencies towards ridding Montana of this poison."
Moore says all legislators are invited to the forum, as well as officials from the Department of Justice, Child Protective Services, Department of Corrections, county attorneys, tribal governments, and federal law enforcement. Senator Diane Sands says the forum is not intended to promote current pieces of legislation moving through the session. She says the forum will be about gathering data about meth use, and using that information to guide public policy.
"It’s destroying our families," Senator Sands says. "It’s putting enormous pressures on our prison system. And on much of our institutions. It’s a huge problem."
The Montana Meth Summit is scheduled for Saturday, February 18th, in the old supreme court room in the state capitol.
