Pubdate: Sat, 22 Jan 2005
Source: Southern Illinoisan (Carbondale, IL)
Copyright: 2005 Southern Illinoisan
Contact:  http://www.TheSouthern.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1430
Author: Matt Adrian
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?159 (Drug Courts)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)

METH TASK FORCE CALLS FOR MORE DRUG COURTS

SPRINGFIELD - Illinois House Republicans are pushing for more drug
courts as a solution to the state's methamphetamine problem.

The House GOP's Methamphetamine Crisis Taskforce is making treatment
the centerpiece of the upcoming legislative session. Friday's report
shows a shift among lawmakers in dealing with methamphetamine.

In the last several legislative sessions the General Assembly has
focused on criminalizing the drug. Now it will focus on treating the
addicts.

Rep. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, a co-chair of the committee, said the
shift occurred because Illinois' methamphetamine producers are
motivated by addiction, not profit.

"The traditional law enforcement goals for addressing drug problems
have been to treat the addict and imprison the dealer," Rose said.
"The problem with methamphetamine in rural Illinois is that the addict
is the manufacturer. It's thrown traditional policing strategies off kilter."

Rose suggested it takes meth abusers at least three years to shake
their addiction and recover from the brain damage created by the
high-powered stimulant.

"Traditional treatment methods of a 90-day program or a 120-day
program don't do us any good with a methamphetamine addict," he said.
"It will take three years for their brain to get back to the point
where they can get close to the point of overcoming this addiction."

As a result, the 18-member task force wants the state to consider a
$10 million pilot program to look at creating a statewide drug courts
policy.

Drug court enrollees are constantly monitored by the court system,
including random drug testing. Failure to stay clean can get a person
bumped into prison.

"It's not a short leash. It's a choker chain," Rose said.

Currently, Illinois has 20 special courts that deal with drug and
alcohol abuse as an alternative to prison. These programs, however,
are funded by federal grants, not the state, which puts them out of
reach for poorer, rural counties most heavily affected by
methamphetamine, Rose said.

The group also is proposing making possession of any amount of
methamphetamine a Class X felony, which carries a possible prison
sentence of six to 30 years. The heavy prison sentence will act as an
incentive to drive people into treatment.

"We get to those non-violent first offenders before they're too far
into their addiction, we might just be able to help them," Rose said.

Rose also argues it's cheaper to treat a person in drug court than pay
$23,812 per year to house him or her in prison.

The report also suggests Illinois adopt a $100 fine on all drug
convictions that would be used for costs associated with the crimes
from medical treatment to overtime for cops.

Rep. David Reis, R-Ste. Marie, noted meth-related costs are eating 80
percent of all county budgets in his district. "That's manpower,
that's mileage that they are putting on their vehicles."

The task force also is recommending the Illinois Environmental
Protection Agency certify former methamphetamine lab sites as clean,
so home buyers and renters will know a dwelling's history.

Other highlights include:

$500,000 for a meth abuse hotline operated by the state police.

$100,000 in grants to researchers looking for ways to make anhydrous
ammonia unusable for making the high-powered stimulant.

$7 million to subsidize farmers' use of anhydrous ammonia additives
such as GloTell that make it easier for law enforcement to spot tanks
that have been broken.
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MAP posted-by: Derek