[WASHINGTON, DC] – U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), who serves on the Senate Anti-Meth Caucus, today received the Guardian Award from the Partnership for a Drug-Free America to recognize his work in combating substance abuse. The award was presented by Steve Pasierb, president & CEO of the Partnership and Dr. Michael Maves, executive vice president & CEO of the American Medical Association at an awards ceremony held in the U.S. Capitol today.

"I am honored to receive this award and will continue to work with my Senate colleagues on both sides of the aisle to help combat drug abuse,” said Durbin. “Methamphetamine abuse has been a big challenge for the state of Illinois and is often cited as the number one challenge facing law enforcement officials in Illinois. We need to help them meet this challenge by increasing public awareness of this drug’s dangers. Education plays a critical role in combating meth.”

Durbin has successfully secured funds for local meth awareness campaigns in Illinois. This March, he announced $180,000 in federal funding for the Illinois Sheriff’s Association to help raise meth awareness. These funds were secured through the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program in the 2006 Justice Department spending bill. Durbin is a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

The number of meth labs seized by law enforcement authorities in Illinois has more than doubled between 2000 and 2005 - from 403 labs to nearly 1,000. Since 1997, the quantity of methamphetamines seized annually by the Illinois State Police has increased more than tenfold.

This spring, Durbin also helped pass legislation that funds training for state and local prosecutors and law enforcement agents to investigate and prosecute methamphetamine offenses. Durbin cosponsored the Combat Meth Act which was included as part of the PATRIOT Act and signed into law. The bill included funds set-aside for prosecutors and law enforcement agents for rural communities.

Durbin said that methamphetamine is the only drug for which rural areas in Illinois have higher rates of drug seizures and treatment admissions than urban areas. In fiscal year 2003, rural counties accounted for 79 percent of persons sentenced to prison for meth-related offenses.

Durbin recently worked with colleagues from both political parties to secure Senate approval for an amendment to allocate $99 million for meth “hot spots." The funding will help train state and local law enforcement officials dealing with meth related crimes. It will also provide money for personnel and equipment for enforcement, prosecution, and environmental clean-up. Durbin also sought to restore $900 million in funding for the Byrne/Justice Assistance Grant program. Illinois law enforcement agencies depend on Byrne funds to help support regional drug task forces, including efforts to tackle the meth problem. The Southern Illinois Enforcement Group pays almost half of its agents with funding from Byrne grants.

In 2004, this regional task force was responsible for more than 27 percent of the State’s meth lab seizures. In a recent example of Byrne grant funding, Glen Carbon Police coordinated with the Illinois State Police Meth Task Force to discover the largest lab in the village’s history. In this incident, local authorities raided a meth lab that proved to be capable of producing up to 6,000 grams of finished methamphetamine.

Durbin is currently working on legislation to help state and local prosecutors prevent, investigate and prosecute drug-related offenses and gang crimes. Durbin’s bill, S.1322, promotes the recruitment and retention of highly-qualified prosecutors and public defenders. The legislation establishes a student loan repayment program and would authorize $862.5 million in grants over the next five years to provide local and state prosecutors with essential tools to combat drugs, gangs, and violent crime.

“Pretending methamphetamine is a regional problem or one that only happens somewhere else is a grave mistake. Law enforcement is telling us they have a major problem on their hands in almost every county in the nation. It’s time for Congress to provide them with the resources they need.”

The Partnership for a Drug-Free America exists to help reduce illicit drug use in America by encouraging people to live healthy, drug-free lives and by reaching out to those whose lives have been changed forever by drug abuse. The Partnership is a non-profit coalition of communications professionals from around the country whose expertise lies in the development and delivery of national drug-education campaigns.