…Adding… Times change…
* Center Square…
A bill that would lower criminal penalties for possession of drugs like methamphetamine and fentanyl narrowly passed the Illinois House Wednesday.
State Rep. Carol Ammons, D-Urbana, defended her House Bill 3447 that opponents like state Rep. Tony McCombie worried is too expansive.
“Would heroin be included?” McCombie asked.
“Yes,” Ammons acknowledged.
The measure drops the criminal charge from a felony to a misdemeanor for what proponents said is a low level of possession. […]
Ammons said the measure is about ensuring people get medical treatment for drug addiction, rather than a jail cell.
“And give them true opportunity to treatment as opposed to saddling them with felony convictions that unfortunately we have to unravel later,” Ammons said.
She also noted the issue impacts those who may be frozen out of housing, education and job opportunities.
State Rep. Marcus Evans, D-Chicago, supported House Bill 3447 and said it corrects decades of wrongs by offering a path to treatment, rather than jail.
Whenever you see a story that doesn’t have numbers in it, beware. Here’s what the story doesn’t tell you: It’s currently a Class 1 felony to possess a single gram of heroin, cocaine or fentanyl. That’s less than 0.04 ounces. The legislation would impose a Class 4 felony on possession of 3-15 grams of heroin, 3-200 grams of fentanyl and 5-15 grams of cocaine. Below that is a Class A misdemeanor. Above that, the penalties increase. There are other penalty adjustments on other drugs as well, along with some expungement language.
*** UPDATE *** ILGOP…
Yesterday, without any Republicans, the Democrats voted to move the use of heroin, cocaine, meth, and fentanyl from a FELONY to a class A misdemeanor. After a year of releasing prisoners into our communities and passing laws to make the job of law enforcement much more difficult, House Democrats continue to make our neighborhoods more dangerous.
Instead of dealing with the real issues that Illinoisans face every day, the Democrats have prioritized significantly reducing penalties for possession and use of drugs. We need legislators who will fight for us in Springfield, on REAL ISSUES, like fighting corruption, lowering property taxes, and growing our economy.
Rich, we want to hear from YOU! Will you take our quick poll and let the Democrats know which drugs you think should remain a felony? Take the poll >>>
Do you agree that these drugs should remain a felony?
Yes
No
Hurry, this survey link expires in 48 hours! Let the Democrats know what you think RIGHT NOW >>>>
Thank you,
ILGOP Team
* Sun-Times…
Another bill that passed Wednesday would allow married couples to change the gender designations on their marriage certificate or update them with non-gendered identifiers, creating “uniformity statewide” for county clerks, said state Sen. Sara Feigenholtz, D-Chicago, the bill’s sponsor.
It passed 41 to 18, and now moves to the House.
* Capitol News Illinois…
Illinois Republicans have added a new twist to their call for an independent redistricting commission in hopes of overcoming Democrats’ claims that their plan would likely be found unconstitutional.
The new twist, discussed Wednesday during a Statehouse news conference, would be to allow two different commissions – the one they are proposing in legislation, and the one mandated after a certain point under the Illinois Constitution – to work side-by-side to come up with new legislative and congressional district maps.
* Same source…
A bill that would prevent statements and actions made by participants in restorative justice programs from being used in court proceedings passed the Illinois Senate on Wednesday in partisan vote.
Senate Bill 64, introduced by Chicago Democrat Sen. Robert Peters, would make “anything said or done” in the course of a restorative justice practice “privileged,” meaning it cannot be used “in any civil, criminal, juvenile, or administrative proceeding.”
Illinois first began using restorative justice courts in 2017. According to the Illinois State Bar Association, restorative justice is meant to bring together the offenders, victims and communities to “address and repair the harm.” […]
Following a short debate on the Senate floor, the bill passed along partisan lines in a 39-17 vote and advanced to the House floor.
* Sun-Times…
A bill sponsored by state Rep. Will Guzzardi would streamline a commutation process for those imprisoned within the Illinois Department of Corrections who are “medically incapacitated and terminally ill,” allowing the Illinois Prisoner Review Board to make a faster decision on whether or not the person can return home, Guzzardi said.
* Back to Center Square…
A new bill would make buying a gun safe less expensive, but a tax expert said carve-outs won’t address issues with the state’s sales tax.
State Rep. Joyce Mason, D-Gurnee, sponsored House Bill 316, which would lower the sales tax on gun safes to 1%. State Rep. Jeff Keicher is a co-sponsor of the bill.
“Republicans and Democrats need to work together more on common-sense measures to keep families safe and reduce the prevalence of tragic incidents when young children get ahold of firearms stored in the home and inadvertently harm themselves or others,” Keicher said in a statement. “I am very pleased to be working with Rep. Mason to pass legislation that will make it more affordable for individuals and families to purchase a gun safe by cutting the sales tax rate to 1%.”
Mason said the bill would encourage responsible gun storage.
* Other stuff…
* Lawmakers look for ways to prevent future natural gas price surges after winter spike
* Bill would change school consolidation process
- DuPage Saint - Thursday, Apr 22, 21 @ 12:30 pm:
Lowering penalties for drug use or possession is probably a good idea. But maybe, if you are hoping it will make treatment more of an option, why not offer expungement after going to treatment?
- TheInvisibleMan - Thursday, Apr 22, 21 @ 12:33 pm:
I’d prefer we decriminalize all drugs. I’m aware of the reality of how far we are from that though. There’s still too much legislative inertia left over from the mindset which created all those blue-laws.
If anyone wants to read about the outcome of decriminalizing all drugs, Portugal is an excellent recent example.
- Blue Dog - Thursday, Apr 22, 21 @ 12:35 pm:
I support this.
- phocion - Thursday, Apr 22, 21 @ 12:41 pm:
I’ve always supporting legalizing canabis, but felt that the “hard” drugs required a tough posture due to the societal ills they create. My thinking has evolved, however, because clearly jail time isn’t working to reduce the scourge of these drugs. Thinking it’s time we need to adopt a new approach and this looks like a good start.
- 1st Ward - Thursday, Apr 22, 21 @ 12:41 pm:
Support the drug bill but am ignorant on fentanyl. Do users actually buy pure fentanyl to smoke or inject? I thought it was only used to lace drugs by sellers? That might be my only quip. Also didn’t see cocaine or crack mentioned.
- don the legend - Thursday, Apr 22, 21 @ 12:47 pm:
So it’s the extra 5.25% sales tax on gun safes that stop people from being responsible.
Who knew?
- dontdodrugs - Thursday, Apr 22, 21 @ 12:59 pm:
Ingesting as little as .25 mg of fentanyl can kill someone. There are 1000 mg in a gram. 3 grams of fentanyl is enough to kill 10,000 people.
- Dotnonymous - Thursday, Apr 22, 21 @ 1:06 pm:
Alcohol and tobacco consumption have been the cause of premature death for millions of people…for comparison.
- Cool Papa Bell - Thursday, Apr 22, 21 @ 1:12 pm:
Good news on drug front. Low level possession arrests are useless. I do support the idea of expungement after treatment. All for that if court costs and rehab expenses could be rolled into one.
- Blue Dog - Thursday, Apr 22, 21 @ 1:20 pm:
How many of these folks can afford court costs and rehab costs.
- Chambananon - Thursday, Apr 22, 21 @ 1:27 pm:
@Rich — Possession of over 1 gram of heroin is a Class 4 felony currently, rather than a Class 1 felony. It takes more than half an ounce (15 grams) under current law, if it’s simple possession. That’s around the equivalent of 150 “doses” of heroin, if using a typical user amount of 0.1 g.
That said, lowering user-level possession to a misdemeanor level is a good step in the right direction.
- Huh? - Thursday, Apr 22, 21 @ 1:28 pm:
Would agree with revised drug law if possession amount was 50% of the LD50 dose.
- TheInvisibleMan - Thursday, Apr 22, 21 @ 1:49 pm:
- if possession amount was 50% of the LD50 dose.
I understand your point, but do you want to start arresting people now for buying a gallon of liquor?
Shouldn’t we at least use existing liquor laws as a template to then work from that baseline to improve over time. Treating different chemicals in different ways is being done for what should be obvious reasons by now. That’s the thing we need to stop doing. Not add more of it.
- Donnie Elgin - Thursday, Apr 22, 21 @ 1:53 pm:
=creating term limits on legislative leaders to a term of 10 years=
Now that is one MJM legacy we can all be proud of.
- NotRich - Thursday, Apr 22, 21 @ 1:56 pm:
known to very few: MJM was in favor of a similar term limit bill a few years back with one minor change.. 10 ten year terms limit
- Candy Dogood - Thursday, Apr 22, 21 @ 2:04 pm:
===Ingesting as little as .25 mg of fentanyl can kill someone. There are 1000 mg in a gram. 3 grams of fentanyl is enough to kill 10,000 people. ===
When it comes to drug policy I tend to be be in favor of things that sound like actual solutions. Dealing with addiction by sending people to prison for a very long time has made it pretty clear that our current policy approach isn’t ideal. It’s also pretty clear that the CHAMPS and the DARE programs didn’t/don’t have the impact we had hoped and relied heavily on fear mongering, stereotypes, and less than accurate information.
Consider the way your comment is phrased at the beginning: “as little as .25″ before making the boast about how many people that theoretical little as could kill.
A fatal dose injected intravenously is likely to be around 2 or 3 mg but there really is no such thing as a safe dose for most recreational drugs. Your post here isn’t helpful for the discussion of a successful drug policy. 2 or 3 mg is still a very small amount, but you wanted to write 10,000 instead of 1,000.
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Apr 22, 21 @ 2:08 pm:
===s a Class 4 felony currently===
- Put the fun in unfunded - Thursday, Apr 22, 21 @ 2:09 pm:
I’m old enough to remember when Carol Ammons co-sponsored HB 345 to ban sales of cigarettes to under-21 “because it would save lives”. Cigarettes can kill you, but hard drugs can kill you a whole lot faster. And Chicago banned flavored vaping products (again, less lethal than heroin). This entire effort is a joke.
- Guzzlepot - Thursday, Apr 22, 21 @ 2:11 pm:
Yes to making possession of low amounts of drugs a Class A misdemeanor.
If you get a DUI as part of your sentence you have to attend a minimum of 10 to a maximum of 75 hours of counseling along with going to a one evening seminar on the effects of accidents caused by DUI’s on the victims and their families. I have long thought that we should do something similar for people who possess low amounts of hard drugs. Don’t let them off Scott free, but don’t ruin some kids life with a felony conviction.
- Guzzlepot - Thursday, Apr 22, 21 @ 2:14 pm:
Bluedog, I think the treatment should be subsidized by the State so that if the user couldn’t afford it they would still be able to get treatment. It would be cheaper than prison.
- Anonymous - Thursday, Apr 22, 21 @ 2:29 pm:
Rich, i think you are looking at section 401, the delivery/possession with intent to deliver statute. Straight possession, section 402, says it is a class 4.
- Dotnonymous - Thursday, Apr 22, 21 @ 2:31 pm:
Legal alcohol and tobacco are responsible for more deaths than all other illegal drugs combined…every single year.
- Tommydanger - Thursday, Apr 22, 21 @ 2:37 pm:
I do not believe any estimates have been made as to the cost savings associated with the proposed legislation by lowering penalties, but I doubt that it would be enough to offset the additional treatment costs. Treatment in general is cheaper than enforcement/prison, but not everyone that currently gets arrested is ordered to treatment. Less people may end up in prison, but many many more would be ordered to treatment and many would be unlikely to afford absent the government providing the treatment.
Of course if you legalized and taxed it….
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Apr 22, 21 @ 2:42 pm:
===the delivery/possession with intent to deliver statute. Straight possession, section 402, says ===
Bottom line is you can get hit with Class 1 for 1 gram.
- charles in charge - Thursday, Apr 22, 21 @ 2:45 pm:
Anonymous @2:29 is correct. Simple possession of 0-15g of heroin or cocaine is a Class 4 felony, as provided under Section 402.
HB 3447 amends Section 401 (manufacture OR delivery OR possession with intent to deliver) in an attempt to eliminate the charge of “possession with intent to deliver” if the quantity of drugs falls under the new quantity thresholds. Those cases would be charged as misdemeanors, while penalties for manufacture or delivery would remain the same, even for amounts under the new thresholds. Hope that helps.
- natty lite - Thursday, Apr 22, 21 @ 2:49 pm:
Even 1 gram of fentanyl is a LOT of fentanyl. It’s hard to comprehend because we are talking about such miniscule doses — which is why it is so terrible. 2-3 milligrams is fatal, and typical patch dosage is maybe 25 micrograms (which means 40 doses to the milligram, and 40,000 doses to the gram). Fentanyl is a horrific scourge and is so much scarier and deadlier than cocaine or heroin. I’m all for treatment instead of prison for addicts, but there are going to continue to be a lot of overdose deaths if policymakers are basically treating it similar to heroine or cocaine.
- Dotnonymous - Thursday, Apr 22, 21 @ 2:52 pm:
People suffering from addiction need help…not punishment based on puritanical ignorance/bias.
- Perrid - Thursday, Apr 22, 21 @ 3:01 pm:
It would still be illegal, which will deter some people, and it’s obvious that the current laws aren’t enough of a deterent (there IS no sufficient deterrent) to stop some other people from using. I think I’m fine with this.
- Medvale School for the Gifted - Thursday, Apr 22, 21 @ 3:11 pm:
Would Durkin be out?
- Homebody - Thursday, Apr 22, 21 @ 3:13 pm:
What is the GOP justification for opposing confidentiality in restorative justice proceedings? Rules 408 and 410 already provide a template for the idea of not allowing people to use statements made in settlement negotiations or plea deals at trial. This is basically the same idea.
- charles in charge - Thursday, Apr 22, 21 @ 3:23 pm:
==Even 1 gram of fentanyl is a LOT of fentanyl. It’s hard to comprehend because we are talking about such miniscule doses — which is why it is so terrible. 2-3 milligrams is fatal, and typical patch dosage is maybe 25 micrograms (which means 40 doses to the milligram, and 40,000 doses to the gram).==
Street drugs are almost always “cut” with other substances to increase dealer profit. But the quantity thresholds in Illinois law apply to any substance *containing* any amount of a prohibited drug. Example: Under the law, the penalty for possessing 1 gram of pure fentanyl diluted with 20 grams of a non-controlled substance is the same as the penalty for possession of 21 grams of pure fentanyl.
People who use drugs are often unaware that their drugs have been adulterated with fentanyl, or the dosage. The same is true of street-level drug sellers, because people higher up on the supply chain usually cut these substances into drugs.
The presence of fentanyl and its analogues in the drug supply is a primary driver of the overdose crisis in Illinois and elsewhere. The risk of fatal overdose is highest when people unknowingly snort or inject heroin or another drug that has been adulterated with a synthetic opiate like
fentanyl. But it makes no sense to continue harshly punishing people for possessing a drug that most are using unknowingly, and which is increasingly present throughout the supply of street drugs.
- TheInvisibleMan - Thursday, Apr 22, 21 @ 5:00 pm:
I see the ILGOP has chimed in to proudly demonstrate what I mean by ‘legislative inertia’.
- Amalia - Thursday, Apr 22, 21 @ 6:08 pm:
yes, lower the criminal penalty. but crack down even harder on those who sell it. these drugs create massive problems for the health system and the cost is high, both personally and in dollars.
- Oswego Willy - Thursday, Apr 22, 21 @ 8:31 pm:
The bill on term limits for leaders… why not.
The QOTD has the other shoe…
- Pot calling kettle - Thursday, Apr 22, 21 @ 10:57 pm:
==yes, lower the criminal penalty. but crack down even harder on those who sell it==
==Rich, i think you are looking at section 401, the delivery/possession with intent to deliver statute. Straight possession, section 402, says it is a class 4. ==
If you have a gram, the prosecutor is very likely to charge with intent to deliver and then, maybe, if he’s feeling generous, offer a plea to the lesser charge.