Pubdate: Fri, 16 Feb 2001
Source: Quad-City Times (IA)
Copyright: 2001 Quad-City Times
Contact:  500 E. Third St., Davenport, IA  52801
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Author: Richard Goldstein

BILL WOULD HEIGHTEN METH MAKING PENALTY

SPRINGFIELD, IL-- A new bill would increase the penalties for 
methamphetamine producers whose toxic and volatile labs injure 
emergency workers, a Quad-City region legislator said Thursday.

Rep. Donald Moffitt, R-Gilson, said he has a personal reason for 
sponsoring the bill. A few weeks ago, the Knoxville Community Fire 
District responded to a house fire in rural Gilson, he said.

"The firefighters were en route. Someone called with a tip and said 
tell the firefighters not to go in that house. There could be some 
funny things happen," he said. "My friends, my neighbors, my 
constituents and my son were en route to that fire, and had they gone 
in and treated it like a normal situation -- a house is burning out 
in the country -- they could have been exposed to some very bad 
things."

Methamphetamine labs contain ingredients such as red phosphorous, 
which can explode when mixed with water, and anhydrous ammonia, which 
can harm the lungs.

The legislation provides for an extended prison sentence if a 
firefighter, police officer or other emergency worker is injured 
while coping with a methamphetamine lab. Moffitt said the provision 
would effectively allow a judge to double the prison sentence under 
laws prohibiting methamphetamine.

"If emergency personnel are hurt or killed, it's going to be on the 
head and shoulders of the person committing the crime," Rep. Mike 
Bost, R-Murphysboro, said.

Legislators, firefighters and law enforcement officers who attended a 
news conference in the Illinois Capitol could not say how many 
emergency workers in the state had been hurt fighting fires or 
cleaning up meth labs.

But they did cite statistics showing a sharp increase in 
methamphetamine labs discovered in the state. In 1997, the Illinois 
State Police reported 24 labs were discovered. Through Dec. 20, 2000, 
the state police reported 336 labs had been found.
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MAP posted-by: Kirk Bauer