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Drug Production and the Environment

NCJ Number
162254
Author(s)
J T Biden Jr; J-M Cousteau; F Thompson; P Pearce; R Brown
Date Published
1991
Length
22 pages
Annotation
This is a tentative witness list and statements by witnesses before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, April 11, 1991.
Abstract
Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Committee Chairman, opened the session with a statement concerning the theme of the hearings, the tremendous environmental damage inflicted by drug production. The first witness was Jean-Michel Cousteau, Founding Director, The Cousteau Society, who spoke about the environmental impact of cocaine production in the Amazon Basin and the permanent damage already done to the area. Frank Thompson, a Special Agent with the California Department of Justice/Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement, assigned to the Drug Enforcement Administration Clandestine Laboratory Task Force in California, described his work investigating and dismantling clandestine laboratories, including those producing methamphetamines. Paul Pearce, President, Clandestine Laboratory Investigators Association, also addressed the issue of illicit drug laboratories and their impact on the environment, including illustrative examples from his own experience.