Pubdate: Sat, 13 Jan 2001 Source: Chicago Tribune (IL) Copyright: 2001 Chicago Tribune Company Contact: 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611-4066 Feedback: http://www.chicagotribune.com/interact/letters/letted/ Website: http://www.chicagotribune.com/ Forum: http://www.chicagotribune.com/interact/boards/ Author: Art Barnum Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy) DUPAGE OFFICIALS URGE STATE TO TOUGHEN PENALTIES FOR ECSTASY SELLERS DuPage County authorities asked state lawmakers Friday to step up the war against those who sell Ecstasy and other popular club drugs by passing legislation to increase prison time for such crimes. Illinois House Republican Leader Lee Daniels of Elmhurst and DuPage County State's Atty. Joseph Birkett joined members of DuPage's law-enforcement community at a news conference, where they urged increased penalties for the possession and sale of MDMA, the active ingredient in Ecstasy. The club drug has grown in popularity across the country and is blamed for an increase in fatal overdoses. Daniels and four other representatives introduced the legislation this week, based on recommendations from public hearings across the state last fall. "These drugs are cheap and plentiful, and government has to react," Daniels said. "Clearly, tougher penalties are required to send a message to those who intend to harm our children for the sake of lining their own pockets." Birkett said that in recent years, when law enforcement saw increased use of LSD and other dangerous drugs, similar legislation helped police slow their growth. "One of the reasons for the rapid increase is that current state penalties for selling Ecstasy amount to a slap on the wrist," Birkett said. It now takes the sale of 200 grams of MDMA (about 900 pills) to make the drug's sale a Class X crime that calls for an automatic prison sentence of 6 years. Daniels' legislation would make it a Class X crime to sell 15 pills. DuPage Sheriff John Zaruba said the county crime laboratory has seen tests involving Ecstasy grow, to 84 last year compared with eight in 1998. The lab has done seven tests in the first 10 days of this year. DuPage County Coroner Richard Ballinger said drug overdoses in DuPage increased to 31 in 1999 from 15 in 1998. Figures for 2000 are not yet available. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake