DRUG COPYCATS CAN BE FATAL Those tempted to try the drug Ecstasy face a threat they may be unaware of: It may not be Ecstasy. The popularity of Ecstasy among teens has attracted predatory drug dealers who increase their profits by selling counterfeit pills packing even more dangerous chemicals. Knockoff versions of the drug have been blamed for at least nine deaths in the United States so far this year, officials of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said. In Florida, six teens died after dropping an Ecstasy copycat made of PMA, or paramethoxyamphetamine, a highly toxic hallucinogenic that causes euphoria, but can fatally increase blood pressure, heart rate and body temperature. Ketamine and DMX are other drugs sold as Ecstasy. An animal tranquilizer, ketamine slows down the perception of time and has powerful hallucinogenic properties. Also a hallucinogenic, DMX, or dextromethorphan, inhibits sweating and can easily causes heat stroke. "Everybody tries to manipulate and make a buck in the drug world," said Kevin J. Stanton, deputy director of the Governor's Alliance Against Drugs. "There have been reports of kids actually ingesting cocaine and heroin cut and tableted in the form of Ecstasy." To prevent users from embarking on a bad trip, a young Californian founded last year a group called DanceSafe, which offers free pill testing services in nightclubs and all-night rave parties. At a rave party in Haverhill three weeks ago, DanceSafe volunteers tested two pills. Both tested positive as Ecstasy, said 23-year-old Selma C. Holden, treasurer of DanceSafe's Massachusetts chapter. "Our first service is peer counseling," said Ms. Holden. "If you take someone in a uniform to talk to a 15-year-old about the risks of drug use, these teens will likely ignore the information or just pretend they're listening when they're not. But if someone who looks like them is the one talking about it, chances are the message will get across." Headquartered in Oakland, Calif., and with 13 local chapters nationwide, DanceSafe survives from private donations. Among its supporters is Microsoft executive Bob Wallace, who has donated $70,000 to the group. DanceSafe volunteers who staff the organization's booths at parties also provide information on other drugs and safe sex, but pill testing is by far the group's most popular service. The tests are performed by putting a drop of a liquid reagent onto powder scrapped from a pill. The pill is then handed back to the user. "Forty to 50 percent of the teen-agers who find out through our tests that they bought a counterfeit pill don't take it," Ms. Holden said. "If we weren't there (at the party), they would be taking these pills and would probably get sick or die." DanceSafe has drawn fire from drug enforcement officials, who say the group's on-site pill testing is unreliable, inconclusive and misleading. John Gartland, special agent in charge of DEA's operations in New England, said he's "really concerned" about the false sense of security that DanceSafe brings, given the dangers of Ecstasy itself. "The message they deliver by having the word 'safe' in their title is a false one," he said.
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