TOUGHER PENALTIES FOR ECSTASY URGED

SPRINGFIELD (AP) -- The top Republican in the Illinois House wants to
stiffen the penalty for selling the drug "ecstasy."

Minority Leader Lee Daniels of Elmhurst wants to make it a Class X felony to
sell 15 or more grams of MDMA, nicknamed ecstasy. That means convicted
sellers would face six to 30 years in jail.

Under existing laws, a dealer could sell more than 900 doses of ecstasy and
still receive probation.

Daniels' proposal also would give the state Public Health Department the
power to put new drugs on the Class X felony list without special
legislation. That would eliminate the delay between creation of designer
drugs and their inclusion in sentencing guidelines.

"This is the only way we're going to keep pace with the availability of new
street drugs," Daniels said in a statement Wednesday.

Authorities say ecstasy and similar drugs are growing in popularity with
teen-agers and young adults. They attribute some of that to weak penalties
for selling the drug.