New Bills of Interest
HB 5808 (Mazzochi) - Amends the Illinois Controlled Substances Act to increase penalties for Carfentanil and Fentanyl.
Provides that if a controlled substance analog is at least 5 times as potent as the controlled substance of which it is an analog, then the weight of the controlled substance analog for purposes of the Act shall be deemed to be the weight of the controlled substance analog multiplied by the increase in potency. Provides that, in addition to any other penalties imposed for the manufacture or delivery, or possession with intent to manufacture or deliver, not less than 6 years and not more than 30 years shall be imposed for any amount of carfentanil in excess of 150 milligrams that is stored or transmitted as a powder, blotter paper, tablet, patch, or spray if the product fails to include a warning label and an accompanying rescue level of naloxone. Provides that, in addition to any other penalties imposed, with respect to fentanyl or an analog thereof, an additional sentence of 5 years shall be imposed if the fentanyl or analog thereof is in certain forms.
Carfentanil is used in veterinary medicine to anesthetize large animals like bears and elephants. The fact that people would willingly take this to get stoned reminds me of the old George Carlin joke “think how dumb the average guy is and then realize half the people are dumber than him…”
Still nothing new available from the Senate.
Illinois Chamber Article on IP Protection
This week, the Illinois Chamber sent a letter to US Commerce Secretary Raimondo and the US Ambassador to the WTO opposing any further attempts by the WTO to weaken intellectual property rights. We have a longstanding rule of thumb that anything longer than a single page often gets discarded by the recipient. Accordingly, I’ll give you the full body of the letter below in italics:
The Illinois Chamber of Commerce writes to express our concerns regarding the proposal to waive the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) beyond the scope agreed in June to include COVID-19 therapeutics and diagnostics.
Illinois’ economic future is increasingly being driven by technology and innovation. American companies, and American workers, are the world leaders in the research and development that is spearheading the 21st century. This innovation, and your administration’s embrace of it with Chamber supported measures such as CHIPS , helps to secure America’s economic might. We’ve seen this success nationwide, including cities like Chicago where the innovation economy is growing mightily.
This critical American research and development must be protected from misappropriation and outright theft by international actors looking to free ride American innovation. IP theft from other countries prevents a grave risk to our future prosperity by diminishing the fruits of American innovation. The recent decision by the WTO to waive IP rights related to COVID-19 vaccines while initially an understandable impulse amid a global health crisis was mooted by a large and growing surplus of vaccines which rendered unnecessary the waiver.
The proposal for an expanded waiver now under consideration by WTO members further threatens US leadership in biotechnology and other growing economic sectors creating the jobs of the future. For this reason, the Illinois Chambers membership asks that you protect our economic future and oppose this costly waiver.
You can get a PDF of our letter here.
Other Legislative Updates
As a reminder, the General Assembly has released the schedule for veto session. Lawmakers will be back in Springfield Tuesday, November 15 -November 17 as well as November 29-December 1.
View and download the veto calendar here.
Lawmakers have been informed to keep January 4-10 open on their calendars for possible lame duck session dates.
