FEDERAL MONEY FLOWS TO FIGHT METH

Two Area Task Forces Benefit From State Grants

FREEPORT - Along with signing legislation strengthening the penalties for
manufacturing methamphetamine, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich also recently
announced significant federal funding that will be available to state law
enforcement teams fighting the meth problem, including grants for area
agencies like the State Line Area Narcotics Team Task Force and the
Blackhawk Area Task Force.

According to a news release from the Governor's Office, SLANT, which covers
Stephenson, Winnebago, and Boone counties, will receive a $149,995 Justice
Assistant Grant, and the Blackhawk Area Task Force, which covers Jo
Daviess, Carroll and other counties, will receive an $86,970 JAG grant.

Specific information on how the grant funding will be implemented was not
available, but Lt. Lincoln Hampton from the Illinois State Police said that
generally the money will be used to train personnel about the dangers of
meth and how to deal with the clean-up and disposal of meth labs.

Master Sgt. Robert Waggoner with SLANT said his office had not yet been
notified Tuesday about what the grant funding can specifically be used for.
Officials with the Blackhawk Area Task Force were not available for comment.

"We have not been notified about the guidelines," Waggoner said.

This grant announcement comes at the same time as the Governor's recent
signing of Senate Bill 562, which contains a major rewrite of the state's
criminal laws dealing with meth, to group those laws together and address
the differences between meth and other illegal drugs, states a news release
from the Illinois Attorney General's Office.

"It has to be addressed in a different way than other drugs," said Melissa
Merz, a spokesperson for the attorney general.

Among other things, the legislation creates a new offense called aggravated
participation in meth manufacturing, a Class X felony mandating jail time.
Officials say this new offense better protects children who are exposed to
meth production by ensuring mandatory jail time for those who manufacture
meth where children reside.

In addition, the new law states that those who manufacture meth in hotels,
motels, apartment buildings, or condominiums will face mandatory jail time.
This provision of the law is important, Merz said, because it addresses the
fact that meth manufacturing endangers everyone in the vicinity, not just
the drug users.

"You're putting other people at risk," Merz said. "Making meth endangers
everyone around you."

The new law also creates offenses targeting those who shop for, transport,
or assemble meth-making materials, and those who work as lookouts or guards
for meth manufacturers. It also imposes tougher penalties on those who
steal anhydrous ammonia for the purpose of making meth, states the Attorney
General's Office news release.

To Hampton, it's important to have tougher meth legislation to "serve as a
deterrent" to those who make the dangerous drug. Meth is becoming a
significant problem in the southern and central parts of the state, and
continues to spread, Hampton said.