By RUSTY MARKS
The State Journal
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Members of the West Virginia House of Delegates voted Tuesday, Feb. 28 to stiffen the criminal penalties on adults who expose children to methamphetamine during production of the drug.
House Judiciary Chairman Delegate John Shott, R-Mercer, said exposing children to meth production is currently a felony carrying a penalty of one to five years in prison. The bill approved by the House would increase the penalty to two to 10 years, Shott said.
House members voted 98-2 on the bill, with delegate Michael Folk, R-Berkeley, and Delegate Pat McGeehan, R-Hancock, voting against it.
“They’re in the tradition of (Niccolo) Machiavelli, (Thomas) Hobbes, (Jean-Jacques) Rousseau, even (Freidrich) Nietzche,” McGeehan said.
Also Tuesday, the House approved a bill that would allow the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf and Blind to qualify for funding through the state School Building Authority.
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