NEW COURT SUGGESTED FOR DRUGS

SPRINGFIELD - A group of Republican lawmakers has proposed a
statewide drug court with alternatives to prison sentences in an
effort to combat the state's "crisis" with methamphetamine.

Under the proposal, people found guilty of possessing meth, a powerful
nervous-system stimulant, could avoid prison if they comply with
certain rules, including intensive supervision, frequent drug testing
and treatment.

A legislative task force found traditional prosecution is not
effective in meth cases, said state Rep. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet, who
led the task force with Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington.

"The problem with methamphetamine ... is that the addict is the
manufacturer," Rose said. "It's thrown essentially traditional
policing strategies off-kilter."

Nineteen counties in Illinois already operate drug courts. The Office
of National Drug Control Policy estimates it costs $2,000 per
defendant in a drug court system. In 2002, Illinois spent an average
of $23,812 per year to incarcerate each drug offender.

Brady said Illinois is facing a meth epidemic, especially in the
state's rural areas where key ingredients such as anhydrous ammonia --
a liquefied fertilizer -- are easily obtained.

"This drug is highly addictive, and in many cases only takes one use
to get hooked," he said. "Worst of all, people who don't even use meth
are getting hurt through explosions and exposure to hazardous fumes
resulting from the drug's manufacture."

In 2000, Illinois State Police logged 403 reports of clandestine meth
labs. By 2003, that number increased to 1,099.

Rose estimated drug courts could save the state about $78 million in
prison costs by reducing recidivism rates. Courts that use traditional
approaches reported a recidivism rate of 45 percent, according to the
Drug Court Clearinghouse and Technical Assistance Project, while drug
courts reported recidivism rates of 5 percent to 28 percent.

State Rep. Ron Stephens, R-Troy, used an impassioned plea regarding
his own treatment experiences to promote the effectiveness of drug
courts. Stephens, a member of the task force, left the General
Assembly in 2001 to enter a California rehab clinic for
prescription-drug addiction.

"I'm here to tell you that the monitoring programs and the support
programs that come out of the local drug court work," he said.

Rose said the proposal, which will be introduced to the General
Assembly in the next few weeks, will ask for $10 million to be
allocated specifically for the establishment of the drug courts.