Methamphetamine traffickers could be jailed for life, if the WA Labor Party wins next month's state election.

The shadow attorney-general John Quigley said that under a Labor government, anyone caught with more than 28 grams of methamphetamine would face the harshest legal penalties in the nation.

He said methamphetamine abuse was out of control and the drug was responsible for an increase in violence and crime.

"Labor will introduce a life penalty for those who deal in methamphetamine," he said.

"We've got to cut the head off the snake. We've got to really increase the penalties for traffickers.

"I'm sure all the community agrees we're in a meth crisis and Labor is going to take this head-on."

Shadow Attorney General John Quigley says WA is in a meth crisis.

"We've got to stop the people that are supplying the street dealers.

"We are told that Western Australia is the meth capital of Australia. We are doing worse than anywhere else."

However, Police Minister Liza Harvey said history showed the threat of long jail terms did not work.

"Once again a weak policy designed around getting a headline," she said.

"We know that Labor believes that meth dealers are low-level offenders.

"Increasing maximum penalties doesn't work, and there's nothing in this for police resources to assist in dealing with meth trafficking in our community.

"If you have a look at the sentencing history, increasing maximum penalties does not illicit a response from the judiciary in sentencing offenders.

Mr Quigley denied the laws were excessive.

"We're not going over the top at all," he said.

"Under the Misuse of Drugs Act there are very serious penalties for dealing in methamphetamine, but there is no step up penalty for drug trafficking in methamphetamine and we're told that two tonnes of methamphetamine are being used annually in Perth," he said.

Mr Quigley pointed to a recent case in which a trafficker who was caught with $500,000 worth of the drug was jailed for six-and-a-half years.

Mrs Harvey said the Liberal Party would be announcing its methamphetamine policy in the near future.