Methamphetamine:
Illinois
Governor
Signs
Meth
Bills,
Will
Increase
Penalties,
Create
Meth
Maker
Registry
6/9/06
Under a package of bills passed by the Illinois legislature and signed Sunday by Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D), people convicted of making meth will now join sex offenders as social pariahs so feared that the state will keep a registry of their names available to the public via the Internet. The registry will include the person's name, age, offense, conviction date, and county where he was convicted. Tennessee became the first state to create a meth cook registry last year, and now has more than 400 names on its list, according to the State Bureau of Investigation. Similar legislation is pending in at least four states -- Georgia, Oklahoma, Washington, and West Virginia. A bill in Oregon would require the state to alert residents when a meth maker is released into their area. And since 2003, Montana has included meth makers on its sexual and violent offender registry, without listing them separately. The registry could be used to prevent convicted meth manufacturers from finding a place to live by providing "one-stop shopping" to see if someone has a record, a spokeswoman for Blagojevich said. "A landlord could use this to see if people who apply to rent a place have been involved with meth manufacturing before," said Abby Ottenhoff. The home manufacture of methamphetamine has boomed in Illinois in the past decade. In 1997, police raided 24 meth labs; last year, the number was 973. In January, a law restricting access to pseudoephedrine went into effect in an effort to reduce that number. Blagojevich also signed three other bills, two of which create draconian penalties for meth-related offenses. One doubles the penalty for meth distribution or the distribution of meth precursors. A second increases to 15 years the sentence for people engaged in ID theft to purchase meth ingredients. The third bill allows hospitals to report suspicious burns believed caused by meth-making accidents to state fire marshals, who can in turn report it to local investigators. "These laws make it easier to track meth crimes, and help us prosecute people who are continuing to make and sell meth, especially in areas where meth has become a problem -- particularly in more rural communities," Ottenhoff said. "Methamphetamine is one of the most addictive and dangerous drugs on the streets... We need to do everything possible to put a stop to the scourge of meth," Blagojevich said in a statement. The bill passed with little debate or objection. No one spoke up for meth users.
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