State Rep. talks smurfing legislation

LANSING — Legislation that will help in the fight against meth is sitting on Governor Rick Snyder’s desk. House Bill 4684 aims to eliminate smurfing.

Smurfing is when an organized group of people purchase pseudophedrine, which is the main ingredient in making meth. The bill changes the current smurfing law from a felony to a misdemeanor and prohibits anyone convicted of this crime from buying pseudophedrine for five years.

“Some people looked at this as though we were weakening the crime by creating a misdemeanor and it’s not that at all,” said State Rep. John Kivela (D-Marquette). “We know that the real win is keeping people from having access to this drug.”

“We’re not destroying someone’s life; a young person with a felony is a felon for life,” added Kivela. “If we can catch them with a misdemeanor, punish them at that level but then ensure they’re not going to do this again with a block sale that’s the win.”

Representative Kivela expects Governor Snyder to sign the legislation into law sometime in the next two weeks. Kivela plans on introducing another bill that would reduce the amount of pseudophedrine someone can buy in a certain time period.