CARTERVILLE - Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan carried a message of hope with her as she helicoptered in to Southern Illinois Tuesday.

The message, which she delivered as keynote speaker at the fourth annual Southern Illinois Methamphetamine Conference, offered hope to those serving on the front lines of the war against the highly addictive and dangerous drug.

"Usually we are at this conference, hunkered down and with grim determination, outlining strategies to fight this epidemic," Madigan said.

"Today, I am really excited to be here because I come here with a legitimate message of hope. Today, we celebrate some of our accomplishments."

Chief among them, she said, a "drastic" drop in the number of methamphetamine lab busts since the state's Methamphetamine Precursor Control Act took effect in January 2006. The act set stricter controls on the display and sale of cold and sinus products containing the illicit drug's key ingredient - pseudoephedrine.

Based on preliminary data, Madigan said, the flow of meth-makers into the state has been reversed and those who cook their own meth have been crippled by lack of open access to the key ingredient.

State police have reported a significant drop in the number of lab busts in the final two quarters of last year and the first quarter of this year. In the first quarter of this year alone, lab busts dropped by 51 percent over the same time period in the previous year.

"People who manufacture can't get hold of enough pseudoephedrine to make meth every single day now. Before the law was enacted, they were able to manufacture every day. After the law, they are maybe making a batch a week, if that. It's a very different situation," she said.

Also, Madigan said, the influx of out-of-state meth dealers to pick up local cookers' slack has been far less than anticipated. She said law enforcement is better able to respond to drugs trafficked into the state than it is to the traditional homemade meth manufacturing operations.

"One of the biggest problems with homemade meth labs is the great danger to those innocent people, such as children living in the home where meth is cooked, and to law enforcement. Almost 15 percent of all labs are discovered through explosion or fire," she said, endangering anyone in the nearby vicinity.

Madigan made her remarks before an audience of nearly 400 people, including law enforcement, educators, medical personnel, treatment providers, prevention specialists and child welfare personnel.

She recognized Southern Illinois officials as "pioneers" in dealing with the crisis and finding ways to halt manufacture and treat those who abuse the substance.

She also said a pilot program is in the works that will help stem the sale of the essential ingredient to meth-makers even more by creating an electronic database for use by those in the retail and pharmacy businesses as well as law enforcement. The database will help track sales of pseudoephedrine.

Steven Mange, senior policy adviser in the AG's office, said a $100,000 federal grant will fund the creation of the pilot program, which will initially serve Franklin, Jackson, Johnson, Saline, Union and Williamson counties.

The two-day conference aims to raise awareness of the drug and educate those in attendance with seminars relating to different aspects of its use and manufacture, said Michelle Hamilton, one of the event's organizers.

The conference, which takes place on the campus of John A. Logan College, concludes today.

View our audio-visual slideshow of Lisa Madigan's interview with the editorial board of The Southern Illinoisan.

(Photos by Chuck Novara/Audio by Caleb Hale/Editing and production by Patrick Laxson - The Southern)

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