McHenry County officials raise opposition to bill that would reclassify fentanyl, heroin possession as misdemeanor

Three McHenry County officials took aim this week at a bill passed 18 months ago by the Illinois House of Representatives in a move one political observer said seeks to add “to the narrative about the danger the public is in with the Democrats in control of the state.”

Should the bill become law, it would “decriminalize” the possession of small amounts of fentanyl, heroin, cocaine among other deadly narcotics, and create a threat to public safety, McHenry County State’s Attorney Patrick Kenneally said in a news release Tuesday.

House Bill 3447, sponsored by state Rep. Carol Ammons, a Democrat from the Urbana-Champaign area, reclassifies less than 3 grams of fentanyl, cocaine, or heroin as a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by probation or jail time, rather than a Class 4 felony, which could result in longer prison sentences but are also probational.

The bill was passed by the House in April 2021 and was subsequently sent to the Senate where it was sent to the Assignments Committee. No action has happened on the bill since.

“No one is clamoring to take this bill up,” said Kent Redfield, a professor emeritus of political science at the University of Illinois in Springfield who also worked for the Illinois General Assembly as a legislative analyst and spent about 20 years with a campaign finance ethics reform group.

Though “technically” the bill is still alive in the Senate, nothing is likely to happen with it anytime soon, he said. And, if it were to pass, it would require a supermajority vote to take effect immediately and that is not likely to happen.

The bill is being discussed publicly at this time because “it fits into the narrative that now the Democrats have this wild, reckless bill that is threatening everybody,” Redfield said, comparing it to the discussion around the SAFE-T Act.

Kenneally, who opposes the legislation along with McHenry County Coroner Michael Rein and McHenry County Sheriff Bill Prim, said he felt it necessary to discuss the proposed bill at a recent McHenry County Board’s Law and Justice Committee and issue a news release advocating for a resolution opposing any further consideration or passage of the bill because “it’s a horrible idea that the public needs to be aware of.”

He likened the bill to the SAFE-T Act and said “the super-majorities in the House and Senate are attempting to quietly remake the criminal justice system in extreme ways that jeopardize public safety.”

He urged victim groups, law enforcement and local officials to voice their opposition to the bill and drag these ‘reforms,’ passed discretely in Springfield and so lacking in common sense, into the light.”

Rein, who also spoke to the county’s Law and Justice Committee with Kenneally, said 0.02 milligrams of fentanyl and 0.015 grams of heroin, respectively, is enough to cause a fatal overdose. That amount of fentanyl appears as nothing more than some dust on a pencil tip and it can kill an average-sized adult or a child, he said.

He noted in the release that drugs like fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine continue to cause the vast majority of overdose deaths in McHenry County.

“Three grams of fentanyl are enough to kill more than 1,500 people. It’s shocking that any representative in Springfield believes possession of substances capable of causing such carnage and death should be reduced to a minor criminal offense,” he said.

But those who support House Bill 3447 said this could be another tool in the toolbox against the often-times deadly use of narcotics and make way for mental health evaluations and treatment rather than punishment and incarceration.

Talking about the proposed bill could be “useful to both groups,” both those who oppose and support the legislation, Redfield said, in trying to “get criminal reform right.”

In one way, it could be used as a “tool” to push the narrative from the Republicans leading up to the Nov. 8 elections that Democrats are too soft on crime, but the bill also could be used in discussions or negotiations after the election and help to implement such laws, Redfield said.

“I openly have said forever that I do support legalizing all drugs with wicked, stringent, controlled regulations, same as anything you can buy from the pharmacist at Walgreens,” said Rob Mutert, who owns Warp Corps in Woodstock and provides teens and young adults with alternative activities to keep them away from drugs.

The ACLU of Illinois is among the groups that supported the legislation. An article on its website states that from 2016 to 2018, 20,000 people in Illinois were convicted of felonies for possessing small amounts of drugs, and 7,500 were imprisoned.

“And while drug use is a reality in all communities, data shows that Illinois residents of color are far more likely to be arrested and convicted of drug possession,” the ACLU of Illinois article states. “The result is that neighborhoods of color have been adversely impacted, with so many residents experiencing incarceration or the stigma of living with a felony record, limiting opportunities for education, employment, and stable housing.”

Mutert also noted the stigma someone carries after being released from prison, where they likely did not get any treatment, and the difficulty in finding a job now after being released. That person, Mutert said, still must find a job “to put food on the table for their kids, buy diapers for their babies.”

That person will likely go back to selling drugs, Mutert said.

If being caught with a small amount of drugs leads to a mental health evaluation rather than a prison sentence, then solutions can be identified, Mutert said.

“You can then have an honest foundation to look at that individual’s journey or past that lead toward substance-use disorder,” he said. “Look at the thing behind the thing. It’s heroin addiction, something is driving that…. Let’s look at past trauma, instead of just saying, ‘Don’t do heroin.’”