LAWMAKERS GO AFTER CLUB DRUGS

In the wake of a suburban teen's fatal overdose last month and 11 arrests in
an undercover sting, state and federal legislators are proposing stiffer
penalties for dealing so-called club drugs.

Illinois House Minority Leader Lee Daniels of Elmhurst is proposing a bill
to make the sale of 15 or more grams of Ecstasy a Class X felony, meaning
convicted sellers would face six to 30 years in jail. Under existing laws, a
dealer could be charged with selling more than 900 doses of the drug and
still receive probation.

If passed, the legislation would put club drugs such as Ecstasy on par with
cocaine and LSD.

The proposed bill also would give the Illinois Department of Health the
power to put new drugs on the Class X felony list without special
legislation. The change would eliminate the lag time between creation of
designer drugs and their inclusion in sentencing guidelines.

"This is the only way we're going to keep pace with the street drugs,"
Daniels said at a Wednesday press conference.

U.S. Rep. Judy Biggert, a Hinsdale Republican, introduced similar federal
legislation last week. Her bill would roughly double the federal sentencing
guidelines for club drug-related crimes and earmark money for an Ecstasy
awareness campaign.

The proposed laws come on the heels of a month of club-drug related
incidents in the Chicago suburbs.

On May 14, Sara L. Aeschlimann, an 18-year-old senior at Naperville Central
High School, died after swallowing what she believed were seven Ecstasy
pills. The pills turned out to be a much more powerful
drug called PMA.

A week later, Palatine and Cook County Sheriff's police arrested 11 people
on charges of selling Ecstasy to undercover officers at a nightclub. The
majority of accused dealers, who ranged in age from 17 to 20, live in the
suburbs.

"You don't think of these drugs being this close to home or that our
children ... are using it," said Biggert, a member of the Speaker's Task
Force for a Drug Free America. "They don't think of how dangerous it is."

While illicit drug use has remained steady in recent years, a University of
Michigan study suggests club-drug use is on the rise among teens nationwide.
In 1998, 3.6 percent of high school seniors reported using Ecstasy within
the past year. That number rose to 5.6 percent in 1999.

The suburbs are no exception to the national trend. Three years ago, DuPage
County State's Attorney Joseph Birkett said his office wasn't involved in
any Ecstasy-related cases. It now is pursuing more than 30.

"It's a substantial portion of our work day," he said.

Birkett pitched legislation last year that would require stiffer penalties
for selling drugs and allow prosecutors more flexibility in drug-induced
homicide cases. The proposal did not gain momentum, however, until Birkett
approached Daniels earlier this year to discuss revamping Ecstasy-related
laws.

The Naperville Police Department also is responding to the growing
popularity of club drugs by sponsoring an Ecstasy-PMA seminar for area
authorities. More than 100 officers are expected to attend the session today
at the city's municipal center.