from todays chicago tribune(sorry i dont have the link):
State lawmakers OK Ecstasy, DUI bills
Penalty for drug, ignition-lock rule would expand
By Jeff Zeleny and Joe Biesk
Tribune staff reporters
May 11, 2001
SPRINGFIELD -- The Illinois General Assembly sent legislation to the governor's desk Thursday that would require stiff prison terms for peddling club drugs like Ecstasy and mandate that repeat drunken drivers take breath tests to prove their sobriety before their cars will be able to start.
Saying Ecstasy is a drug scourge sweeping the state, senators gave final approval to a plan calling for mandatory prison terms of 6 to 30 years for people who sell more than 15 grams of the pleasure-enhancing drug that has become a staple of many dance clubs and all-night rave parties.
Although the measure passed 51-1, some senators warned the legislation would cast too wide a net and treat teenagers with the same severity as hard-core drug dealers.
But Sen. Rickey Hendon said the Ecstasy legislation might be just what Illinois lawmakers need to understand the racial implications of drug laws crafted in recent years. Hendon said the Ecstasy legislation would send a disproportionate number of whites to prison, just as crack cocaine laws have done for blacks.
"When you see 14-, 15-, 16-year-olds going to jail for a mandatory 30 years and the complexion of those children is no longer black and brown, we'll stop and think about what we're doing," said Hendon, a Chicago Democrat who is black and voted for the bill. "This evens the playing field in sentencing. It's going to wake up a lot of white people."
Sen. Kirk Dillard, a Hinsdale Republican who sponsored the legislation, disagreed, saying: "It's time to get tough on this killer drug now."
In the last year, at least three young people died in Chicago's suburbs when they overdosed on a drug similar to Ecstasy. Authorities say the use of Ecstasy has increased, in part, because the penalties are too light. Prosecutors say that if dealers are caught, they often walk away without prison sentences because the drug is sold in such small quantities that the state's drug laws barely apply.
The legislation, which needs approval from Gov. George Ryan, would for the first time add Ecstasy and other club drugs to the state's highest level of narcotics laws. Currently, dealers would have to sell about 900 pills of Ecstasy to face a felony charge and 6-year prison term.
But under the new legislation, such a conviction could be delivered for the sale of 15 pills.
Fake tablets can be fatal
Federal drug officials say Ecstasy use has soared in the United States and in Europe, where most of the synthetic drug is made. Stimulants like Ecstasy arouse brain chemicals and induce feelings of euphoria. But fake tablets laced with stronger hallucinogens can be deadly.
Lawmakers in several states have considered enhancing penalties for various club drugs like Ecstasy. In Florida, legislators created prison terms of up to 15 years for selling the drug. In New Jersey, selling the drug is a felony, comparable to other hard-core drugs.
Meanwhile on Thursday, the House voted overwhelmingly to increase penalties for repeat drunken-driving offenders by requiring anyone with two or more convictions in five years to take a breath test each time they climb behind the wheel of a car. A locking device would be installed on the vehicle's ignition, which would prevent a car from starting if the driver was intoxicated.
The legislation also would increase the minimum penalties of such repeat offenders to 5 days in jail, up from the current minimum jail term of 2 days. People also could serve 30 days of community service, in lieu of the jail time.
"If you thumb your nose at the system, if you want to continue to drive drunk, OK," said Rep. Bill Black, a Danville Republican who sponsored the legislation. "We'll make life very difficult for you."
People convicted of multiple drunken-driving offenses within a five-year period could not get a restricted driving permit from the secretary of state for at least one year.
After the year, an offender could get a restricted permit and drive as long as the locking device is on the car.
Thousands of drivers involved
The locking device would require drivers to blow into a tube that can detect if they are drunk. If drivers could start their car after the initial test, they would still have to blow into the tube about every 15 minutes to keep the car running.
More than 1,000 Illinois drivers are now required to have these devices. The tougher legislation could boost that number to as many as 7,000 drivers, officials said.
Though the breath tests are not foolproof, state officials said the multiple breath tests while the car is operating should reduce the chance that an intoxicated driver would have a sober friend blow into the device to start the car.
The ignition locks date to 1994 in Illinois, when the program began as a test project. It was later expanded.
More than 30 states also have used some form of ignition-lock device law. The idea also has spread to other countries.
In Illinois, drivers must pay for the devices themselves. Officials say the cost of each device can reach $1,300 each year.
In passing the legislation, lawmakers hope Illinois would be able to tap more federal funds for road construction. The federal government had previously diverted $8.5 million of the state's road construction funds to safety programs.
Brad Fralick, executive director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, praised the legislation.
"This year will be the landmark year regarding anti-DUI legislation in Illinois," Fralick said.
With two weeks remaining in the scheduled legislative session, the Senate also is still considering more extensive drunken-driven penalties proposed by Secretary of State Jesse White. The sweeping package of legislation targets people who have far exceeded the legal blood-alcohol limit of 0.08 percent.
State lawmakers OK Ecstasy, DUI bills
Penalty for drug, ignition-lock rule would expand
By Jeff Zeleny and Joe Biesk
Tribune staff reporters
May 11, 2001
SPRINGFIELD -- The Illinois General Assembly sent legislation to the governor's desk Thursday that would require stiff prison terms for peddling club drugs like Ecstasy and mandate that repeat drunken drivers take breath tests to prove their sobriety before their cars will be able to start.
Saying Ecstasy is a drug scourge sweeping the state, senators gave final approval to a plan calling for mandatory prison terms of 6 to 30 years for people who sell more than 15 grams of the pleasure-enhancing drug that has become a staple of many dance clubs and all-night rave parties.
Although the measure passed 51-1, some senators warned the legislation would cast too wide a net and treat teenagers with the same severity as hard-core drug dealers.
But Sen. Rickey Hendon said the Ecstasy legislation might be just what Illinois lawmakers need to understand the racial implications of drug laws crafted in recent years. Hendon said the Ecstasy legislation would send a disproportionate number of whites to prison, just as crack cocaine laws have done for blacks.
"When you see 14-, 15-, 16-year-olds going to jail for a mandatory 30 years and the complexion of those children is no longer black and brown, we'll stop and think about what we're doing," said Hendon, a Chicago Democrat who is black and voted for the bill. "This evens the playing field in sentencing. It's going to wake up a lot of white people."
Sen. Kirk Dillard, a Hinsdale Republican who sponsored the legislation, disagreed, saying: "It's time to get tough on this killer drug now."
In the last year, at least three young people died in Chicago's suburbs when they overdosed on a drug similar to Ecstasy. Authorities say the use of Ecstasy has increased, in part, because the penalties are too light. Prosecutors say that if dealers are caught, they often walk away without prison sentences because the drug is sold in such small quantities that the state's drug laws barely apply.
The legislation, which needs approval from Gov. George Ryan, would for the first time add Ecstasy and other club drugs to the state's highest level of narcotics laws. Currently, dealers would have to sell about 900 pills of Ecstasy to face a felony charge and 6-year prison term.
But under the new legislation, such a conviction could be delivered for the sale of 15 pills.
Fake tablets can be fatal
Federal drug officials say Ecstasy use has soared in the United States and in Europe, where most of the synthetic drug is made. Stimulants like Ecstasy arouse brain chemicals and induce feelings of euphoria. But fake tablets laced with stronger hallucinogens can be deadly.
Lawmakers in several states have considered enhancing penalties for various club drugs like Ecstasy. In Florida, legislators created prison terms of up to 15 years for selling the drug. In New Jersey, selling the drug is a felony, comparable to other hard-core drugs.
Meanwhile on Thursday, the House voted overwhelmingly to increase penalties for repeat drunken-driving offenders by requiring anyone with two or more convictions in five years to take a breath test each time they climb behind the wheel of a car. A locking device would be installed on the vehicle's ignition, which would prevent a car from starting if the driver was intoxicated.
The legislation also would increase the minimum penalties of such repeat offenders to 5 days in jail, up from the current minimum jail term of 2 days. People also could serve 30 days of community service, in lieu of the jail time.
"If you thumb your nose at the system, if you want to continue to drive drunk, OK," said Rep. Bill Black, a Danville Republican who sponsored the legislation. "We'll make life very difficult for you."
People convicted of multiple drunken-driving offenses within a five-year period could not get a restricted driving permit from the secretary of state for at least one year.
After the year, an offender could get a restricted permit and drive as long as the locking device is on the car.
Thousands of drivers involved
The locking device would require drivers to blow into a tube that can detect if they are drunk. If drivers could start their car after the initial test, they would still have to blow into the tube about every 15 minutes to keep the car running.
More than 1,000 Illinois drivers are now required to have these devices. The tougher legislation could boost that number to as many as 7,000 drivers, officials said.
Though the breath tests are not foolproof, state officials said the multiple breath tests while the car is operating should reduce the chance that an intoxicated driver would have a sober friend blow into the device to start the car.
The ignition locks date to 1994 in Illinois, when the program began as a test project. It was later expanded.
More than 30 states also have used some form of ignition-lock device law. The idea also has spread to other countries.
In Illinois, drivers must pay for the devices themselves. Officials say the cost of each device can reach $1,300 each year.
In passing the legislation, lawmakers hope Illinois would be able to tap more federal funds for road construction. The federal government had previously diverted $8.5 million of the state's road construction funds to safety programs.
Brad Fralick, executive director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, praised the legislation.
"This year will be the landmark year regarding anti-DUI legislation in Illinois," Fralick said.
With two weeks remaining in the scheduled legislative session, the Senate also is still considering more extensive drunken-driven penalties proposed by Secretary of State Jesse White. The sweeping package of legislation targets people who have far exceeded the legal blood-alcohol limit of 0.08 percent.
