From the Decatur Tribune

10/5/11

Danville – Joined by lawmakers, law enforcement officials and pharmacists, Attorney General Lisa Madigan today unveiled two initiatives aimed at curtailing the rise of new production methods of methamphetamine in Illinois.

Madigan visited Danville and two other Illinois communities that are among the hardest hit by the meth epidemic, where authorities have seen an emergence of small-scale meth production techniques that make the drug harder to detect. Madigan, speaking at the Vermilion County Sheriff’s Office, said she will work with state Sen. William Haine and Rep. Jerry Costello II in the Legislature’s upcoming veto session to extend the program that allows pharmacies to block illegal sales of pseudoephedrine, the key meth ingredient. The Attorney General also unveiled a new awareness campaign targeting people who buy pills for meth cooks.

“When meth first hit our communities, we hit back hard to drive meth makers and users out of Illinois,” Attorney General Madigan said. “But meth is a unique drug. It’s like a virus that mutates, so we must retool our responses to how this drug is made.”

For over a decade, Madigan has worked to combat the scourge of meth use and production in Illinois, passing tough laws cracking down on the sale of pseudoephedrine and strengthening penalties for those convicted of meth- related offenses. Implemented in 2006, the Methamphetamine Precursor Control Act restricts consumers from buying more than two packages of pseudoephedrine products at a time or products with more than 7,500 milligrams of pseudoephedrine in a 30-day period. Customers also must show photo identification and sign a purchasing log maintained by pharmacies. The restrictions cut in half the number of meth labs reported, from 761 in 2006 to 362 in 2007.

Despite these successes, Madigan said drug users have adapted, turning to so-called “one-pot” or “shake ‘n bake” meth production, which can be accomplished using legal amounts of pseudoephedrine. They use small amounts of pseudoephedrine to mix the drug in two-liter plastic bottles, which produces three to seven grams of the drug.

To fight this emergence of small-scale meth production, Madigan will work with Haine and Costello to amend the law during the fall session in Springfield to make permanent a pilot system used by pharmacies to track the sale of pseudoephedrine. The system, which has operated statewide since June 2010 and is set to expire in January, allows pharmacies to block pseudoephedrine sales if the sale would exceed the legal purchase amount allowed by law.

“Tested right here in Vermilion County, this system provides law enforcement with the information they need to stop meth right at its source,” said Sen. Michael Frerichs. “I fully support this legislation and Attorney General Madigan’s efforts to fight the horrible impact meth can have in our communities.”

Madigan was joined today by state Rep. Chad Hays, Vermilion County Sheriff Patrick Hartshorn, State’s Attorney Randy Brinegar and County Board Chair Jim McMahon and Danville Police Chief Larry Thomason. Also attending today’s press conferences were representatives of the Illinois Sheriff’s Association, the Illinois State Police, Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police, Illinois Retail Merchants Association, Illinois Pharmacists Association, Illinois State’s Attorneys Association, Illinois Department of Corrections and the Meth Project.

“This law has been the single most effective tool for law enforcement in their effort to block the availability of the key ingredient in the production of methamphetamine,” said Sheriff Hartshorn. “The meth check database also provides investigators with valuable information about those individuals who seek to violate this law.”

From June 2010 to the present, pharmacies used the system to block the sale of more than 70,000 boxes of pseudoephedrine-based cold medication statewide – including 1,375 boxes in Vermilion County. From January through August of this year, seizures of meth labs in Vermilion County grew to 23, compared with 17 labs during that same time period in 2010, according to Illinois State Police data.

The tracking system allows law enforcement to target pill shoppers traveling from pharmacy to pharmacy to purchase legal pseudoephedrine amounts and stockpile the ingredient to make meth.

Also today, Attorney General Madigan and partnering agencies launched a campaign to educate the public and put on notice the growing numbers of people who act as pill buyers for meth users or producers. Madigan said posters will be placed in pharmacies across the state to send a message that these pill shoppers are contributing to a crime every time they buy pills for a meth cook.