Crime and Justice

Addiction Treatment Facility 

Operators Sentenced 

in $112M Fraud Scheme

    (DOJ) - 3/21/2022 - Two brothers who operated multiple South Florida addiction treatment facilities were sentenced to prison Friday for a $112 million addiction treatment fraud scheme that included paying kickbacks to patients through patient recruiters and receiving kickbacks from testing laboratories.

    “These substance abuse treatment facility operators, through brazen tactics driven by greed, took advantage of vulnerable patients seeking treatment,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “These sentences demonstrate the department’s unwavering commitment to protecting patients and prosecuting fraudulent substance abuse treatment facilities through our Sober Homes Initiative.”

    Jonathan Markovich, 37, and his brother, Daniel Markovich, 33, both of Bal Harbour, were sentenced in the Southern District of Florida to 188 months and 97 months in prison, respectively.

    According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, the defendants conspired to unlawfully bill for approximately $112 million of addiction treatment services that were medically unnecessary and/or never provided, which were procured through illegal kickbacks at two addiction treatment facilities, Second Chance Detox LLC, dba Compass Detox (Compass Detox), an inpatient detox and residential facility, and WAR Network LLC (WAR), a related outpatient treatment program. The defendants obtained patients through patient recruiters who offered illegal kickbacks to patients, including free airline tickets, illegal drugs, and cash payments. 

    The defendants shuffled a core group of patients between Compass Detox and WAR in a cycle of admissions and re-admissions to fraudulently bill for as much as possible. Patient recruiters gave patients illegal drugs prior to admission to Compass Detox to ensure admittance for detox, which was the most expensive kind of addiction treatment offered by the defendants’ facilities. In addition, therapy sessions were billed for but not regularly provided or attended, and excessive, medically unnecessary urinalysis drug tests were ordered, billed for, and paid. Compass Detox patients were given a so-called “Comfort Drink” to sedate them, and to keep them coming back. Patients were also given large and potentially harmful amounts of controlled substances, in addition to the “Comfort Drink,” to keep them compliant and docile, and to ensure they stayed at the facility.

    “To manipulate and exploit patients seeking help in their most vulnerable state is unacceptable,” said Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division. “These individuals orchestrated a scheme that sought profits over the well-being of patients, and they will be held accountable for their actions. With the help of our law enforcement partners, the FBI continues to investigate, bring down these criminal enterprises, and protect our citizens.” 

    After a seven-week trial in November 2021, both defendants were convicted of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud. Jonathan Markovich was convicted of eight counts of health care fraud and Daniel Markovich was convicted of two counts of health care fraud. They were also both convicted of conspiracy to pay and receive kickbacks and two counts of paying and receiving kickbacks. Jonathan Markovich was separately convicted of conspiring to commit money laundering, two counts of concealment money laundering, and six counts of laundering at least $10,000 in proceeds of unlawful activities. He was also convicted of two counts of bank fraud related to fraudulently obtaining PPP loans for both Compass Detox and WAR during the COVID-19 pandemic.

    The FBI’s Miami Field Office, Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, and the Broward County Sherriff’s Office investigated the case.

    Senior Litigation Counsel Jim Hayes and Trial Attorney Jamie de Boer of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section prosecuted the case.

    The National Rapid Response Strike Force, Miami Strike Force, and Los Angeles Strike Force lead the Department of Justice’s Sober Homes Initiative, which was announced in the 2020 National Health Care Fraud Takedown to prosecute defendants who exploit vulnerable patients seeking treatment for drug and/or alcohol addiction.

Law and Justice

 

Former DEA Special Agent

Sentenced to 13 Years in Prison

     (DOJ) - 8/15-2021 - A former Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent was sentenced on Aug. 12 to 160 months in prison for nine crimes related to official misconduct, including perjury, obstruction of justice, and theft.

    According to court documents, Chad Allan Scott, 53, of Covington, Louisiana, perjured himself and directed others to commit perjury to obtain a conviction against an alleged drug dealer. He also falsified forms so that he could take possession of a truck bought for him by a drug dealer. When he and two other law enforcement officers began to worry that they would be investigated, Scott and the others conspired to throw evidence of their wrongdoing into the swamps outside New Orleans. Scott also stole money and possessions from defendants his DEA group had arrested. Scott was found guilty in August 2019 and June 2021 after his case was severed into two separate federal trials by Federal District Court Judge Milazzo.

    “Chad Scott took an oath to serve his community with integrity, but rather than use his badge to protect his community, he used it to break the law,” said DEA Administrator Anne Milgram. “This goes against everything that the Drug Enforcement Administration stands for. Scott betrayed the very people he was entrusted to protect and today he is being held accountable for his crimes.”

    The case was initially investigated by the Louisiana State Police and later by the FBI, DEA Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR), and DOJ-OIG.

    Assistant Deputy Chief Timothy A. Duree of the Justice Department’s Fraud Section and Trial Attorney Charles A. Miracle of the Justice Department’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section prosecuted the case.

    “While he was a law enforcement agent, Scott compromised cases and conspired to steal from the people he arrested,” said Special Agent in Charge Douglas B. Bruce of the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General (DOJ-OIG) Denver Field Office. “His actions were antithetical to the oath he swore to uphold. Now, he will rightly serve time for his many crimes.”

Drug Laws

 Gallup Poll Shows Usual Holdouts as

Support for Legal Weed Hits 

Record High in U.S. of 68%

Support Higher Among College Grads, Wealthier Households

By Steve Rensberry
RP News

___________

EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - (RP News) - 12/15/2020 - The writing may be on the wall for the eventual legalization of medicinal and recreational marijuana nationwide. Given the election results of last month, the country now has 15 states, plus Washington D.C., where marijuana can be purchased legally for both medicinal and recreational purposes, albeit with restrictions.

Graphic courtesy of statista

   Three dozen states now have laws allowing for medicinal use, and the number supporting recreational use has been inching upward with each election.

"The new developments cement the American West as a stronghold of legal weed. Colorado and Washington were the first states to legalize the drug in 2012. South Dakota actual gave recreational and medical use of cannabis the green light at the same time, meaning there are now 36 states and the nation's capital with medical marijuana laws in place," notes statista data journalist Niall McCarthy.

Increased access to the herb follows growing public support for legal marijuana. According the Gallup organization, support passed the two-thirds mark a little while ago.

"Americans are more likely now than at any point in the past five decades to support the legalization of marijuana in the U.S.," Megan Brenan writes in a Nov. 9, 2020 story for Gallup. "The 68% of U.S. Adults who currently back the measure is not statistically different from last year's 66%; however, it is nominally Gallup's highest reading, exceeding the 64% to 66% range seen from 2017 to 2019."

In 1969 just 12 percent of Americans backed legalization, a Gallup poll taken at the time indicated. It reached 28 percent in 1977, then 30 percent in 2000. See: Support for Legal Marijuana Inches Up to New High of 68%.

"The latest data are from a Sept. 30-Oct. 15 poll, conducted before the election that saw marijuana legalization proposals on the ballot in several states. Voters in all of these states -- Arizona, Montana, New Jersey, and South Dakota -- authorized the legal use of recreational marijuana in the Nov. 3 election. They join 11 other states and the District of Columbia in legalizing pot for recreational purposes. Additionally, voters in Mississippi and South Dakota join 33 states and the District of Columbia in passing laws legalizing or decriminalizing the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes," Brenan writes.

Interestingly, support was greater among college grads than non-college grads, according to the Gallup poll, at 76 percent and 64 percent respectively. Support among 18-29 years old was highest at 79 percent, followed by 30-49 year olds at 75 percent, 50-64 year olds at 60 percent, and those over 65 years of age at 55 percent.

Support in households making more than $100,000 per year was highest at 74 percent; for those making $40,000-$100,000 per year it was 68 percent, and for those making less than $40,000 per year it was 67 percent.

Approximately 69 percent of males and 66 percent of females supported legalization.

Brenan notes that Republicans, conservatives, and weekly churchgoers remain the holdouts. "Over eight in 10 Democrats and liberals, and more than seven in 10 independents and moderates, back legalization, but just under half of Republicans and conservatives do," she writes.

Reference

The Economic Benefits of Legalizing Weed

Marijuana Legalization and Regulation
The Public-Health Case for Legalizing Marijuana
Deep Dive: Recreational Marijuana Tax Revenue in the United States

Chuck Rosenburg Selected to Head DEA

   (DPA) - 5/30/2015 - A senior F.B.I. official and former U.S. attorney, Chuck Rosenberg, has been selected by President Obama as acting director of the Drug Enforcement Administration. Rosenberg has served as the chief of staff to the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, for the past 18 months.
   Outgoing DEA head Michele Leonhart announced her retirement last month in the wake of numerous scandals. She came under intense criticism for opposing the Obama administration’s efforts to reform mandatory minimum sentencing laws, and for opposing the administration’s hands-off approach in the four states that have approved legal regulation of marijuana.
   The DEA has existed for more than 40 years but little attention has been given to the role the agency has played in fueling mass incarceration, racial disparities, the surveillance state, and other drug war problems. Congress has rarely scrutinized the agency, its actions or its budget, instead showing remarkable deference to the DEA’s administrators. That has started to change recently, and Leonhart’s departure was seen as an opportunity to appoint someone who will overhaul the agency and support reform.
   “The new DEA chief has a tough job ahead,” said Bill Piper, director of national affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance. “Let’s hope he’s in line with the political consensus in favor of scaling back mass incarceration and the worst harms of the drug war.”The Drug Policy Alliance’s online campaign has raised awareness of the damage the DEA is causing, and the organization and its allies have been working with members of Congress to cut the agency’s budget and reduce its power.
   The DPA recently placed a mock “Help Wanted” ad in Capitol Hill newspaper Roll Call that highlights the major flaws with Leonhart’s regime – and that lays out all the problems that the next DEA administrator must try to avoid. The tongue-in-cheek ad sought a new head of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to “prolong the failed war on drugs,” with primary areas of job responsibility to include “Mass Incarceration,” “Police State Tactics,” “Obstruction of Science,” “Subverting Democracy” and “Undermining Human Rights.”
   “Drug prohibition, like alcohol Prohibition, breeds crime, corruption, and violence – and creates a situation where law enforcement officers must risk their lives in a fight that can’t be won,” said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance. “It’s time to reform not just the DEA but broader U.S. and global drug policy. The optimal drug policy would reduce the role of criminalization and the criminal justice system in drug control to the greatest extent possible, while protecting public safety and health.”
   DPA also recently released a new issue brief, The Scandal-Ridden DEA: Everything You Need to Know. The brief covers numerous DEA scandals, including the massacre of civilians in Honduras, the inappropriate use of NSA resources to spy on U.S. citizens and the use of fabricated evidence to cover it up, the warrantless tracking of billions of U.S. phone calls, and the misuse of confidential informants. The brief notes that the traditional U.S. drug policy goal of using undercover work, arrests, prosecutions, incarceration, interdiction and source-country eradication to try to make America "drug-free" has failed to substantially reduce drug use or drug-related harms. It instead has created problems of its own – broken families, increased poverty, racial disparities, wasted tax dollars, prison overcrowding and eroded civil liberties.
   Even as U.S. states, Congress, and the Obama Administration move forward with marijuana legalization, sentencing reform, and other drug policy reforms, the DEA has fought hard to preserve the failed policies of the past. Last year, Leonhart publicly rebuked President Obama for saying that marijuana is as safe as alcohol, told members of Congress that the DEA will continue to go after marijuana even in states where it is legal despite DOJ guidance stating otherwise, and spoke out against bipartisan drug sentencing reform in Congress that the Obama administration is supporting.
  The DEA also has a long history of obstructing scientific research and refusing to acknowledge established science, as chronicled in a report by DPA and MAPS last year, The DEA: Four Decades of Impeding and Rejecting Science. DEA administrators, including Leonhart, have on several occasions ignored research and overruled the DEA’s own administrative law judges on the medical uses of marijuana and MDMA.
   In a recent report the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General found that the DEA withheld information and obstructed investigations. In a hearing last week senators grilled the DEA for failing to provide information and answer basic questions. “It’s been now eight months — I still don’t have a response from DEA to these questions,” Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley said. “When we don’t get responses to our letters, that colors our view of the agency — particularly when we’re writing about a constituent who suffered from a real lapse in process,” Senator Diane Feinstein said.
   Last year Congress passed a spending limitation amendment prohibiting the DEA from undermining state marijuana laws. It was signed into law by President Obama, but expires later this year. The U.S. House also approved two amendments prohibiting the DEA from interfering with state hemp laws. An amendment to shift $5 million from the agency to a rape kit testing program passed overwhelmingly. Numerous hearings have already been held this year scrutinizing the agency. Reformers say more amendments, bills, and hearings are on the way.
- See more at: http://www.drugpolicy.org/news/2015/05/president-obama-selects-chuck-rosenberg-head-beleaguered-us-drug-enforcement-administra#sthash.FLNnsyuq.dpuf
   Source: Drug Policy Alliance

WHO calls for drug decriminalization, reforms

   (DPA) - 7/26/2014 - In a report published earlier this month, the World Health Organization (WHO) made a clear call for broad drug policy reforms, including decriminalization of drug use, harm reduction practices such as syringe exchange and opioid substitution therapy, and a ban on compulsory treatment for people who use drugs. This report by the United Nations’ leading health agency focuses on best practices to prevent, diagnose and treat HIV among key populations.
   “It’s good to see the WHO come out so strongly for decriminalizing drugs and rejecting compulsory treatment for people who use drugs,’ said Ethan Nadelmann, Executive Director of the Drug Policy Alliance. “Its recommendations, grounded as they are in science and public health, drive home the need for fundamental reforms in U.S. drug policies, in particular the growing reliance on drug courts to ‘treat’ people arrested for drug possession.”
   In a section titled “Good practice recommendations concerning decriminalization”, the WHO report makes the following recommendations:
Countries should work toward developing policies and laws that decriminalize injection and other use of drugs and, thereby, reduce incarceration.
Countries should work toward developing policies and laws that decriminalize the use of clean needles and syringes (and that permit NSPs [needle and syringe programs]) and that legalize OST [opioid substitution therapy] for people who are opioid-dependent.
Countries should ban compulsory treatment for people who use and/or inject drugs.
   This follows on the heels of a report released in March by a key working group of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) discouraging criminal sanctions for drug use. The recommendations of the working group – which included Nora Volkow, head of the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) – highlight that “criminal sanctions are not beneficial” in addressing the spectrum of drug use and misuse.
   In 2016, the United Nations General Assembly will hold a special session on drugs (UNGASS) – an initiative proposed in 2012 by the then-president of Mexico, Felipe Calderon – in order to conduct a comprehensive review of the successes and failures of international drug control policy. Whereas the previous UNGASS in 1998 was dominated by rhetorical calls for a “drug-free world” and concluded with unrealistic goals regarding illicit drug production, the forthcoming UNGASS will undoubtedly be shaped by recommendations such as those in the WHO report.
   Last year, Uruguay followed on the heels of Colorado and Washington State and became the first country to legally regulate marijuana for recreational purposes. In June, the West Africa Commission on Drugs, initiated by former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and chaired by former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasango, called for drug decriminalization and for treating drug use as a health issue. This was followed by an announcement by the Jamaican Minister of Justice that the Jamaican Cabinet had approved a proposal to decriminalize the possession of up to two ounces of marijuana and the decriminalization of marijuana use for religious, scientific and medical purposes. And earlier this month, the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), agreed to establish a commission to review marijuana policy in the region in order to assess the need for reforms to marijuana laws.
  The WHO recommendations are consistent with the long-standing policy objectives and mission of the Drug Policy Alliance, as well as with a surprisingly broad and rapidly-emerging coalition of stakeholders who are calling for drug decriminalization, including the American Public Health Association, International Red Cross, Organization of American States, NAACP, Human Rights Watch, National Latino Congreso, and the Global Commission on Drug Policy.
   Source: Drug Policy Alliance

Report: Policing becoming inceasingly militarized

    NEW YORK – 6/24/2014 - After obtaining and analyzing thousands of documents from police departments around the country, oday the American Civil Liberties Union released the report War Comes Home: The Excessive Militarization of American Policing. The ACLU focused on more than 800 SWAT raids conducted by law enforcement agencies in 20 states and on the agencies’ acquisition of military weaponry, vehicles, and equipment.
   "We found that police overwhelmingly use SWAT raids not for extreme emergencies like hostage situations but to carry out such basic police work as serving warrants or searching for a small amount of drugs," said Kara Dansky, Senior Counsel with the ACLU’s Center for Justice. "Carried out by ten or more officers armed with assault rifles, flashbang grenades, and battering rams, these paramilitary raids disproportionately impacted people of color, sending the clear message that the families being raided are the enemy. This unnecessary violence causes property damage, injury, and death."
   The report documents multiple tragedies caused by police carrying out needless SWAT raids, including a 26-year-old mother shot with her child in her arms and a 19-month-old baby critically injured when a flashbang grenade landed in his crib.
   "Our police are trampling on our civil rights and turning communities of color into war zones," Dansky continued. "We all pay for it with our tax dollars. The Departments of Defense, Homeland Security, and Justice give police military weaponry and vehicles as well as grants for military equipment. The War on Drugs has failed, yet the federal government hasn’t stopped the flow of guns and money."
   The report calls for the federal government to rein in the incentives for police to militarize. The ACLU also asks that local, state, and federal governments track the use of SWAT and the guns, tanks, and other military equipment that end up in police hands.
   "Our findings reveal not only the dangers of militarized police, but also the difficulties in determining the extent and impact of those dangers. At every level – from the police to the state governments to the federal government – there is almost no record keeping about SWAT or the use of military weapons and vehicles by local law enforcement," Dansky noted.
   In addition, the report recommends that state legislatures and municipalities develop criteria for SWAT raids that limit their deployment to the kinds of emergencies for which they were intended, such as an active shooter situation.
   The report is available here: www.aclu.org/militarization
   Source: American Civil Liberties Union 

HHS Leaders Address Opioid Overdose Epidemic

  (NIH) - 5/16/2014 - A national response to the epidemic of prescription opioid overdose deaths was outlined in the New England Journal of Medicine by leaders of agencies in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The commentary calls upon health care providers to expand their use of medications to treat opioid addiction and reduce overdose deaths, and describes a number of misperceptions that have limited access to these potentially life-saving medications. The commentary also discusses how medications can be used in combination with behavior therapies to help drug users recover and remain drug-free, and use of data-driven tracking to monitor program progress.
   The commentary was authored by leaders of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) within the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
   “When prescribed and monitored properly, medications such as methadone, buprenorphine, or naltrexone are safe and cost-effective components of opioid addiction treatment,” said lead author and NIDA Director Nora D. Volkow, M.D. “These medications can improve lives and reduce the risk of overdose, yet medication-assisted therapies are markedly underutilized.”
  Research has led to several medications that can be used to help treat opioid addiction, including methadone, usually administered in clinics; buprenorphine, which can be given by qualifying doctors External Web Site Policy; and naltrexone, now available in a once-a-month injectable, long-acting form. The authors stress the value of these medications and describe reasons why treatment services have been slow to utilize them. The reasons include inadequate provider education and misunderstandings about addiction medications by the public, health care providers, insurers, and patients. For example, one common, long-held misperception is that medication-assisted therapies merely replace one addiction for another – an attitude that is not backed by the science. The authors also discuss the importance of naloxone, a potentially life-saving medication that blocks the effects of opioids as a person first shows symptoms of an overdose.
   The article describes how HHS agencies are collaborating with public and private stakeholders to expand access to and improve utilization of medication-assisted therapies, in tandem with other targeted approaches to reducing opioid overdoses. For example, NIDA is funding research to improve access to medication-assisted therapies, develop new medications for opioid addiction, and expand access to naloxone by exploring more user-friendly delivery systems (for example, nasal sprays). CDC is working with states to implement comprehensive strategies for overdose prevention that include medication-assisted therapies, as well as enhanced surveillance of prescriptions and clinical practices. CDC is also establishing statewide norms to provide better tools for the medical community in making prescription decisions.
   “Prescription drug overdoses in the United States are skyrocketing. The good news is we can prevent this problem by stopping the source and treating the troubled,” said co-author and CDC director Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. “It is critical that states use effective prescription drug tracking programs so we can improve prescribing practices and help get those who are abusing drugs into treatment.”
   Charged with providing access to treatment programs, SAMHSA is encouraging medication-assisted therapy through the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant as well as regulatory oversight of medications used to treat opioid addiction. SAMHSA has also developed an Opioid Overdose Toolkit External Web Site Policy to educate first responders in the use of naloxone to prevent overdose deaths. The toolkit includes easy-to-understand information about recognizing and responding appropriately to overdose, specific drug-use behaviors to avoid, and the role of naloxone in preventing fatal overdose.
   “SAMHSA’s Opioid Overdose Toolkit is the first federal resource to provide safety and prevention information for those at risk for overdose and for their loved ones,” said co-author and SAMHSA Administrator Pamela S. Hyde, J.D. “It also gives local governments the information they need to develop policies and practices to help prevent and respond appropriately to opioid-related overdose.”
   CMS is working to enhance access to medication-assisted therapies through a more comprehensive benefit design, as well as a more robust application of the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act.
   “Appropriate access to medication-assisted therapies under Medicaid is a key piece of the strategy to address the rising rate of death from overdoses of prescription opioids,” said co-author Stephen Cha, M.D., M.H.S., chief medical officer for the Center for Medicaid and CHIP [Children’s Health Insurance Program] Services at CMS. “CMS is collaborating closely with partners across the country, inside and outside government, to improve care to address this widespread problem.”
   However, the authors point out that success of these strategies requires engagement and participation of the medical community.
   The growing availability of prescription opioids has increased risks for people undergoing treatment for pain and created an environment and marketplace of diversion, where people who are not seeking these medications for medical reasons abuse and sell the drugs because they can produce a high.
   More than 16,000 people die every year in this country from prescription opioid overdoses, more than heroin and cocaine combined. According to SAMHSA’s 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health External Web Site Policy, almost 2.1 million people in the United States were dependent upon or abusing opioid pain relievers. More information on prescription opioid abuse can be found at: www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/prescription-drugs.
   The National Institute on Drug Abuse is a component of the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIDA supports most of the world’s research on the health aspects of drug abuse and addiction. The Institute carries out a large variety of programs to inform policy and improve practice. Fact sheets on the health effects of drugs of abuse and information on NIDA research and other activities can be found on the NIDA home page at http://www.drugabuse.gov, which is now compatible with your smartphone, iPad or tablet. To order publications in English or Spanish, call NIDA’s DrugPubs research dissemination center at 1-877-NIDA-NIH or 240-645-0228 (TDD) or fax or email requests to 240-645-0227 or drugpubs@nida.nih.gov. Online ordering is available at http://drugpubs.drugabuse.gov. NIDA’s media guide can be found at http://drugabuse.gov/mediaguide, and its new easy-to-read website can be found at http://www.easyread.drugabuse.gov.
   Source: National Institutes of Health

Drug Sentencing Guidelines May Be Reduced

   WASHINGTON – 4/12/2014 - The U.S. Sentencing Commission voted on April 11 to reduce sentencing guidelines for certain people convicted of nonviolent drug offenses. The amendment would reduce the average sentence for drug traffickers by 11 months, by lowering the drug sentencing guidelines two levels. Attorney General Eric Holder endorsed the change during testimony before the commission last month.
   "Our country is slowly but steadily reversing the damage done by the failed, racially biased war on drugs," ACLU Senior Legislative Counse Jesselyn McCurdy said. "The actions taken by the Sentencing Commission . . . are another positive move toward reducing unnecessarily long sentences that have led to bloated, overcrowded prisons. Our criminal justice system is smarter, fairer, and more humane than it was a year ago, and we need to make sure momentum continues in the right direction."
   The amendment, along with several others that were passed, will go to Congress for its approval on May 1. Congress has six months to introduce and pass legislation to stop the proposed changes before they become law on November 1.
   Source: American Civil Liberties Union

NIH, Others Work To Validate Disease Targets

   (NIH) - 2/16-2014 -The National Institutes of Health, 10 biopharmaceutical companies and several nonprofit organizations recently launched an unprecedented partnership to transform the current model for identifying and validating the most promising biological targets of disease for new diagnostics and drug development.
   The Accelerating Medicines Partnership (AMP) aims to distinguish biological targets of disease most likely to respond to new therapies and characterize biological indicators of disease, known as biomarkers. Through the Foundation for the NIH (FNIH), AMP partners will invest more than $230 million over five years in the first projects, which focus on Alzheimer’s disease, type 2 diabetes, and the autoimmune disorders rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus).
   A critical and groundbreaking element of the partnership is the agreement that the data and analyses generated will be made publicly available to the broad biomedical community. The three- to five-year, milestone-driven pilot projects in these disease areas could set the stage for broadening AMP to other diseases and conditions.
   “Patients and their caregivers are relying on science to find better and faster ways to detect and treat disease and improve their quality of life,” NIH Director Francis S. Collins stated. “Currently, we are investing a great deal of money and time in avenues with high failure rates, while patients and their families wait. All sectors of the biomedical enterprise agree that new approaches are sorely needed.”
    As a result of technological revolutions in genomics, imaging, and more, researchers have been able to identify many changes in genes, proteins, and other molecules that predispose to disease and influence disease progression. While researchers have identified thousands of such biological changes that hold promise as biomarkers and drug targets, only a small number have been pursued. Choosing the wrong target can result in failures late in the development process, costing time, money, and ultimately, lives. Currently, developing a drug from early discovery through U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval takes well over a decade and has a failure rate of more than 95 percent. As a consequence, each success costs more than $1 billion.
   “The AMP rallies scientific key players of the innovation ecosystem in a more unified way to address one of the key challenges to Biopharma drug discovery and development,” said Mikael Dolsten, M.D., Ph.D., President of Worldwide Research and Development at Pfizer. “This type of novel collaboration will leverage the strengths of both industry and NIH to ensure we expedite translation of scientific knowledge into next generation therapies to address the urgent needs of Alzheimer’s, diabetes and RA/lupus patients.”
  AMP has been more than two years in the making, with intense interactions between scientists in the public and private sectors, progressive refinement of the goals, strategy development support from the Boston Consulting Group, and scientific project and partnership management by the FNIH. Through this effort, AMP partners have developed research plans and are sharing costs, expertise, and resources in an integrated governance structure that enables the best informed contributions to science from all participants.
   The research highlights for each disease area are:

Alzheimer’s disease

   Identify biomarkers that can predict clinical outcomes by incorporating an expanded set of biomarkers into four major NIH-funded clinical trials, which include industry support, designed to delay or prevent disease.
    Conduct large-scale, systems biology analyses of human patient brain tissue samples with Alzheimer’s disease to validate biological targets that play key roles in disease progression, and increase understanding of molecular networks involved in the disease, to identify new potential therapeutic targets.
  For more information about NIH Alzheimer’s disease research, see the 2012-2013 Alzheimer’s Disease Progress Report: Seeking the Earliest Interventions.

Type 2 diabetes

   Build a knowledge portal of DNA sequence, functional genomic and epigenomic information, and clinical data from studies on type 2 diabetes and its heart and kidney complications. The portal will include existing data and new data from studies involving 100,000–150,000 individuals. The rich collection of curated and collated information in this portal will provide an opportunity to identify the most promising therapeutic targets for diabetes from the growing mountain of potentially relevant data.
    Focus on DNA regions that might be critical for the development or progression of type 2 diabetes and search for natural variations in targeted populations that might predict the likelihood of success of drug development aimed at these targets.

Rheumatoid arthritis and lupus

    Collect and analyze tissue and blood samples from people with rheumatoid arthritis and lupus to pinpoint biological changes at the single cell level, to allow comparisons across the diseases and provide insights into key aspects of the disease process.
Identify differences between rheumatoid arthritis patients who respond to current therapies and those who do not, and provide a better systems-level understanding of disease mechanisms in RA and lupus.
   Highly collaborative steering committees with representation from public- and private-sector partners will be established for each disease area to oversee the research plans. The steering committees will be managed by FNIH under the direction of an AMP executive committee comprised of leaders from NIH, industry, the FDA, and patient advocacy organizations.
   More information about the program and the disease research plans can be found here: www.nih.gov/amp.
   Source: The National Institutes of Health

Cancer Study Reveals Potential Drug Targets

   (NIH) - 1/31/2014 - Investigators with The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) Research Network have identified new potential therapeutic targets for a major form of bladder cancer, including important genes and pathways that are disrupted in the disease. They also discovered that, at the molecular level, some subtypes of bladder cancer — also known as urothelial carcinoma — resemble subtypes of breast, head and neck and lung cancers, suggesting similar routes of development.
   The researchers’ findings provide important insights into the mechanisms underlying bladder cancer, which is estimated to cause more than 15,000 deaths in the United States in 2014. TCGA is a collaboration jointly supported and managed by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), both parts of the National Institutes of Health.
   “TCGA Research Network scientists continue to unravel the genomic intricacies of many common and often intractable cancers, and these findings are defining new research directions and accelerating the development of new cancer therapies,” NIH Director Francis Collins said.
   In this study, published online Jan. 29, 2014 in Nature, investigators examined bladder cancer that invades the muscle of the bladder, the deadliest form of the disease. The current standard treatments for muscle-invasive bladder cancer include surgery and radiation combined with chemotherapy. There are no recognized second-line therapies — second choices for treatments when the initial therapy does not work — and no approved targeted agents for this type of bladder cancer. Approximately 72,000 new cases of bladder cancer will be diagnosed in the United States in 2014.
   “This project has dramatically improved our understanding of the molecular basis of bladder cancers and their relationship to other cancer types,” said lead author John Weinstein, M.D., Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. “In the long run, the potential molecular targets identified may help us to personalize therapy based on the characteristics of each patient’s tumor.”
   “The real excitement about this project is that we now have a menu of treatment and research directions to pursue,” said Seth Lerner, M.D., professor and chair in urologic oncology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, and one of the senior authors of the paper. “The field is poised to use this information to make new advances toward therapies for a very-difficult-to-treat form of bladder cancer.”   
   The research team analyzed DNA, RNA and protein data generated from the study of 131 muscle-invasive bladder cancer from patients who had not yet been treated with chemotherapy. The scientists found recurrent mutations in 32 genes, including nine that were not previously known to be significantly mutated. They discovered mutations in the TP53 gene in nearly half of the tumor samples, and mutations and other aberrations in the RTK/RAS pathway (which is commonly affected in cancers) in 44 percent of tumors. TP53 makes the p53 tumor suppressor protein, which helps regulate cell division. RTK/RAS is involved in regulating cell growth and development.
   The investigators also showed that genes that regulate chromatin — a combination of DNA and protein within a cell’s nucleus that determines how genes are expressed — were more frequently mutated in bladder cancer than in any other common cancer studied to date. These findings suggest the possibility of developing therapies to target alterations in chromatin remodeling.
   Overall, the researchers identified potential drug targets in 69 percent of the tumors evaluated. They found frequent mutations in the ERBB2, or HER2, gene. The researchers also identified recurring mutations as well as fusions involving other genes such as FGFR3 and in the PI3-kinase/AKT/mTOR pathway, which help control cell division and growth and for which targeted drugs already exist.
   Because the HER2 gene and its encoded protein, HER2 — which affects cell growth and development — are implicated in a significant portion of breast cancers, scientists would like to find out if new agents under development against breast cancer can also be effective in treating subsets of bladder cancer patients.
   “We’ve organized our medical care around the affected organ system,” Dr. Lerner said. “We have thought of each of these cancers as having its own characteristics unique to the affected organ. Increasingly, we are finding that cancers cross those lines at the molecular level, where some individual cancers affecting different organs look very similar. As targeted drug agents go through preclinical and clinical development, we hope that rather than treating 10 percent of breast cancers or 5 percent of bladder cancers, it eventually will make sense to treat multiple cancer types where the target is expressed.” The same theme runs through TCGA’s Pan-Cancer project, which is aimed at identifying genomic similarities across cancer types, with the goal of gaining a more global understanding of cancer behavior and development.
   “It is increasingly evident that there are genomic commonalities among cancers that we can take advantage of in the future,” NHGRI Director Eric Green said. “TCGA is providing us with a repertoire of possibilities for developing new cancer therapeutics.”
   The scientists also uncovered a potential viral connection to bladder cancer. It is known that animal papilloma viruses can cause bladder cancer. In a small number of cases, DNA from viruses — notably, from HPV16, a form of the virus responsible for cervical cancer — was found in bladder tumors. This suggests that viral infection can contribute to bladder cancer development.
   Tobacco is a major risk factor for bladder cancer; more than 70 percent of the cases analyzed in this study occurred in former or current smokers. However, the analysis did not identify major molecular differences between the tumors that developed in patients with or without a history of smoking.
   “The definitive molecular portrait of bladder cancer by the TCGA Network has uncovered a promising array of potential therapeutic targets that provides a blueprint for investigations into the activity of existing and novel therapeutic agents in this cancer,” said Louis Staudt, M.D., Ph.D., director, NCI Center for Cancer Genomics.

Reference

The Cancer Genome Atlas Research Network. Comprehensive molecular characterization of urothelial bladder carcinoma. Nature. Online January 29, 2014. DOI: 10.1038/nature12965.

Seniors Save $6 Billion on Prescription Drugs

   (HHS) - 4/10/2013 - As the third anniversary of the Affordable Care Act approaches, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced recently that more than 6.3 million people with Medicare saved over $6.1 billion on prescription drugs because of the health care law.
   “By making prescription drugs more affordable, the Affordable Care Act is improving and promoting the best care for people with Medicare,” Secretary Sebelius said.
   The Affordable Care Act makes Medicare prescription drug coverage (Part D) more affordable by gradually closing the gap in coverage where beneficiaries must pay the full cost of their prescriptions out of pocket. This gap is known as the doughnut hole.
   People with Medicare in the doughnut hole now receive discounts when they purchase prescription drugs at a pharmacy or order them through the mail, until they reach the catastrophic coverage phase. The Affordable Care Act gave those who reached the doughnut hole in 2010 a one-time $250 check, then began phasing in discounts and coverage for brand-name and generic prescription drugs beginning in 2011. The law will provide additional savings each year until the coverage gap is closed in 2020.
   In 2013, the health care law increases the discounts and savings to 52.5 percent of the cost of most brand name drugs and 21 percent of the cost of covered generic drugs.
   Also under the Affordable Care Act, those who choose to enroll in Medicare Advantage and Part D now have access to a wider range of high-quality plan choices, with more four- and five-star plans than were previously available. The Affordable Care Act continues to make Medicare more secure, with new tools and enhanced authority to crack down on criminals who cheat the program.
   For more information on how the Affordable Care Act closes the doughnut hole, please visit:http://www.healthcare.gov/law/features/65-older/drug-discounts/
   For state-by-state information on savings in the donut hole, visit: http://downloads.cms.gov/files/DonutHoleSavingsSummary-March2013.pdf
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Teen Cigarette, Alcohol Use Reaches Historic Low

   (NIH) - 12/20/2011 - Cigarette and alcohol use by eighth, 10th and 12th-graders are at their lowest point since the Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey began polling teenagers in 1975, according to this year’s survey results. However, this positive news is tempered by a slowing rate of decline in teen smoking as well as continued high rates of abuse of other tobacco products (e.g., hookahs, small cigars, smokeless tobacco), marijuana and prescription drugs. The survey results, announced today during a news conference at the National Press Club, appear to show that more teens continue to abuse marijuana than cigarettes; and alcohol is still the drug of choice among all three age groups queried.
   MTF is an annual survey of eighth, 10th, and 12th-graders conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, under a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health. The survey was conducted in classrooms earlier this year.
   "That cigarette use has declined to historically low rates is welcome news, given our concerns that declines may have slowed or stalled in recent years," NIDA Director Dr. Nora D. Volkow said. "That said, the teen smoking rate is declining much more slowly than in years past, and we are seeing teens consume other tobacco products at high levels. This highlights the urgency of maintaining strong prevention efforts against teen smoking and of targeting other tobacco products."
   The 2011 results showed that 18.7 percent of 12th-graders reported current (past-month) cigarette use, compared to a recent peak rate of 36.5 percent in 1997 and 21.6 percent five years ago. Only 6.1 percent of eighth-graders reported current smoking, compared to a recent peak of 21 percent in 1996 and 8.7 percent five years ago.
   "While it is good news that cigarette use has declined to historically low rates, we can and must do more to accelerate that decline," Assistant Secretary for Health Howard K. Koh, said. "The actual decline is relatively small compared to the sharp declines we witnessed in the late nineties."
   For alcohol, 63.5 percent of 12th-graders reported past year use, compared to a recent peak of 74.8 percent in 1997. Similarly, 26.9 percent of eighth-graders reported past year use of alcohol in 2011, compared to a recent peak rate of 46.8 percent in 1994. There also was a five-year decrease in binge drinking, measured as five or more drinks in a row in the past two weeks, across all three grades. Binge drinking was reported by 6.4 percent of eighth-graders, 14.7 percent of 10th-graders, and 21.6 percent of 12th-graders, down from the 2006 rates of 8.7 percent, 19.9 percent and 25.4 percent respectively.
   Despite the declines noted in the report, use of marijuana has shown some increases in recent years and remains steady. Among 12th-graders, 36.4 percent reported past year use, and 6.6 percent reported daily use, up from 31.5 and 5 percent, respectively, five years ago. The upward trend in teens' abuse of marijuana corresponded to downward trends in their perception of risk. For example, only 22.7 percent of high school seniors saw great risk in smoking marijuana occasionally, compared to 25.9 percent five years ago. Similarly, 43.4 percent of eighth-graders reported that they saw great risk in smoking marijuana occasionally, compared to 48.9 percent five years ago. In addition, concerns about the use of synthetic marijuana, known as K2 or spice, prompted its inclusion in the survey for the first time in 2011. Surprisingly, 11.4 percent of 12th-graders reported past year use.
   "K2 and spice are dangerous drugs that can cause serious harm," said Gil Kerlikowske, director of National Drug Control Policy. "We will continue to work with the public health and safety community to respond to this emerging threat but in the meantime, parents must take action. Parents are the most powerful force in the lives of young people and we ask that all of them talk to their teens today about the serious consequences of using marijuana, K2, or spice."
   There was mixed news seen in the non-medical use of prescription drugs. Abuse of the opioid painkiller Vicodin was reported by 8.1 percent of 12th graders — similar to 2010 and down from 9.7 percent in 2009. There was also a decline reported by 10th graders — to 5.9 percent from 7.7 percent in 2010. However, no such declines were seen for the opioid painkiller OxyContin.
   In 2011, the non-medical use of the ADHD medicines Adderall and Ritalin remained about the same as last year among 12th-graders, at 6.5 and 2.6 percent, respectively. There was, however, a significant decline in the abuse of over-the-counter cough medicine among eighth-graders, down to 2.7 percent in 2011 from 4.2 percent in 2006, when the survey first asked about its abuse. A similar decline in cough medicine abuse was seen among 12th-graders, to 5.3 percent from 6.9 percent five years ago.
   "To help educate teens about the dangers of prescription drug abuse, NIDA is launching an updated prescription drug section on our teen website," Volkow said. "Teens can go to our PEERx pages to find interactive videos and other tools that help them make healthy decisions and understand the risks of abusing prescription drugs. We are also encouraging teens to provide feedback on these resources through NIDA's teen blog, Sara Bellum, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, or email." PEERx can be seen at http://teens.drugabuse.gov/peerx.
   Overall, 46,773 students from 400 public and private schools participated in this year's MTF survey. Since 1975, the survey has measured drug, alcohol, and cigarette use and related attitudes in 12th-graders nationwide. Eighth and 10th graders were added to the survey in 1991. Survey participants generally report their drug use behaviors across three time periods: lifetime, past year, and past month. Questions are also asked about daily cigarette and marijuana use. NIDA has providing funding for the survey since its inception by a team of investigators at the University of Michigan, led by Dr. Lloyd Johnston. Additional information on the MTF Survey, as well as comments from Dr. Volkow, can be found at www.drugabuse.gov/drugpages/MTF.html. To hear the audiocast of the event, visit: www.visualwebcaster.com/MonitoringTheFuture.
   MTF is one of three major surveys sponsored by the U.S Department of Health and Human Services that provide data on substance use among youth. The others are the National Survey on Drug Use and Health and the Youth Risk Behavior Survey. The MTF website is: http://monitoringthefuture.org. Follow Monitoring the Future 2011 news on Twitter at @NIDANews, or join the conversation by using: #MTF2011. Additional information on MTF can be found at www.hhs.gov/news; or www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov.
   The National Survey on Drug Use and Health, sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, is the primary source of statistical information on substance use in the U.S. population 12 years of age and older. More information is available at: http://www.samhsa.gov/data/NSDUH/2k10NSDUH/2k10Results.htm.
   The Youth Risk Behavior Survey, part of HHS' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, is a school-based survey that collects data from students in grades 9-12. The survey includes questions on a wide variety of health-related risk behaviors, including substance abuse.
   More information is available at www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dash/yrbs/index.htm.
   Source: National Institutes of Health release of 12/14/2011

Driving Under the Influence of Drugs? Watch Out

   By Diane S.W. Lee (Illinois Statehouse News) - 4/25/2011 - If you get behind the wheel with traces of illegal drugs in your body, you potentially could face a prison sentence. The Illinois Supreme Court on April 21  handed down the opinion in People v. Martin, reinstating Aaron Martin’s original conviction of aggravated driving under the influence and a six-year prison sentence.
    Peoria County Circuit Court prosecutors convicted Martin of a charge of aggravated DUI because he was driving with methamphetamine in his body when his car crashed into an oncoming car, killing two people on Christmas night 2004.
   The six other state justices unanimously concurred with Supreme Court Justice Mary Jane Theis’ 10-page opinion, which overturned the appellate court decision that ruled there was no “causal connection” to prove the drug had caused the crash, since the effects of the drug had likely worn off.
   “In this case, it was shown that defendant driver caused the accident. Thus, there was no need to prove that he suffered from any degree of impairment which caused the accidental fatalities,” according to the high court's opinion.
    Under the state‘s vehicle code, it is a crime for any person to drive under the influence of alcohol, intoxicating compounds or drugs, including marijuana and meth that would make them unable to drive safely. 
   If they are involved in an accident resulting in a death, then it would “aggravate” the sentence.
   Ronald Smith, professor at the John Marshall Law School in Chicago, said the law has harsh consequences for those who are unaware.
   “The legislature, for whatever reason, decided to go this far,” Smith said.
    The Supreme Court notes that causing physical injury to others by driving under the influence of drugs would turn a misdemeanor DUI into a felony.
    "Any misdemeanor DUI can become aggravated DUI if the violation causes a death," according to the high court's opinion.
    Martin drove home from a Peoria bar at night on Dec. 25, 2004, when he crossed the center of a two-lane state highway, and collided with a car, killing two people. He was hospitalized and given a narcotic painkiller.
    The Illinois State Police tested Martin's blood and urine samples. A forensic scientist found “trace amounts” of methamphetamine in his urine, but no alcohol.
    Martin denied using meth the night of the accident, even though he admitted to using it before. He insisted the state needed to prove whether key ingredients ephedrine or pseudoephedrine, which are used to make medicine and meth, were in his system instead of meth itself.
    "There was evidence, however, that he had used methamphetamine, and evidence that no other substances in his urine could have yielded a false positive result," according to the high court's opinion.
    People are taking a risk if they are under the influence of illegal drugs behind the wheel, Smith said.
    “It sends a message: If you do methamphetamine or some of these other drugs and you drive,” Smith said.   “Regardless, if it has any impact on the way you drive — you have committed a felony, and you can go to prison.”
    Story courtesy of Illinois Statehouse News (originally published April 21, 2011)

New year means new laws for Illinois residents

   By Andrew Thomason - (Illinois Statehouse News) – 12/30/2010 – Soon, Illinois residents can no longer buy a pet monkey, give unlimited amounts of cash to political candidates or get high on fake marijuana.
    These changes, along with nearly 200 other laws, will take effect at the stroke of midnight Friday.

Campaign money

    Sometimes referred to as the “wild west” of campaign financing, Illinois’ political donation landscape will be somewhat tamer starting Jan. 1. Individuals will be limited to giving a candidate $5,000 per election cycle, and businesses, unions, and political action committees to $10,000, under a new law.
    “The limits are intended to both limit corruption and the appearance of corruption,” said Kent Redfield, director of the Sunshine Project. The new law will “hopefully start to restore the faith of citizens in the process.”
    The caps apply to donations to political parties and political action committees.
    Illinois was just one of five states that had no limits on the size or source of campaign donations before the General Assembly passed the law, according to the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform.
    Candidates will have more responsibility under the new law, too. They must file twice as many campaign expenditure and contribution reports – every three months instead of every six – under the new law. Also, candidates must make public all donations of more than $1,000 within five business days, or within two business days if the money comes in a month before an election.
    “There’s going to be a lot more transparency, which you hope does two things: it modifies people’s behavior because they know that the news media and citizen groups are watching," Redfield said. " The other side of it is that if you have transparency you can see that nothing (nefarious) is going on.”

Elections

    After pushing the primary election back to February in 2008 to help Barack Obama beat his Democratic rivals, the state has now returned the election back to the Tuesday in March in even numbered years.
    During the next gubernatorial race, voters will cast ballots for governor and lieutenant governor the same way they do for president and vice president, as a team. This change came after Scott Lee Cohen came out of nowhere to win the Democratic lieutenant governor nomination, only to bow out after allegations of past drug abuse and domestic violence surfaced, and run for governor as an independent.

Sexting

   Generally, the law is playing catch up with technology. Such is the case with the trend of sending sexually graphic photos or video of one’s self to someone by means of a cell phone or e-mail.
    This is a trend that is especially popular among younger people. Prior to the passage of a new law, prosecutors could only seek felony child pornography charges against minors caught “sexting,” something most prosecutors were hesitant to do.
   “We don’t condone the behavior (but) we also don’t think these people should be sex offenders and be sent away to prison,” said Matt Jones, associate director for administration of the Illinois State’s Attorney Appellate Prosecutor.
    Starting in the new year, minors caught sexting could instead be taken to juvenile court to determine if they qualify for court supervision. Minors could be ordered into counseling or other similar services, as well as given community service, in place of being charged with a felony.
.  “We hope to intervene in situations where a minor is engaging in conduct that is harmful to them but don’t really realize is harmful to them,” Jones said.

Primate Pets

   While you don’t see monkeys in the windows of pet stores, it has been legal for a person to keep a primate as a pet. In order to protect the animals, as well as the owners, the legislature approved a plan to outlaw having primate pets, except for properly designated entities like zoos.
    “Most people simply cannot provide an appropriate environment for these highly intelligent and social creatures …You can’t provide what a primate needs in a basement or a bedroom,” said Michael Markariam, chief operating officer for the Human Society of the United States.
    Primates can also create public health problems, according to Markariam.
   “Even smaller monkeys can bite and scratch and spread very dangerous diseases to humans,” he said.

Drugs and Alcohol

    Residents of Illinois will have one less way to get high come 2011. Two synthetic forms of marijuana, which are readily available now, are set to be banned. Called K2, Spice, or Blaze, the drug is a manufactured form of THC, the altered-state inducing chemical in marijuana, and is generally sold as incense. However, people smoke it like they would pot.
    The drug is currently illegal in 15 other states, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency put a year-long ban on K2 while it performs a study of the drug’s effects.
    And, parents hoping to use their children as their designated drivers are going to have to find another sober driver. Anyone caught intoxicated while instructing a minor with a learning permit operating a vehicle will be tagged with a moving violation.
   Story courtesy of Illinois Statehouse News.