RISE IN LOCAL ECSTASY USE LEAVES MANY UNHAPPY

"Mary" tried Ecstasy for the first time this summer at Salisbury
Beach. She popped a bright-green pill stamped "007" just before
sunset and embarked on a voyage she said helped her come to grips
with her chubby looks.

"I felt so beautiful," said the Haverhill High sophomore. "My skin
felt like silk, and it felt like I'd left the whole world behind and
it was just me and my friends floating around at the beach."

Ecstasy is an illegal drug that plays with the brain cells and can
have serious physical, psychological -- and legal -- consequences.
But nationwide and locally, more and younger teens like Mary are
trying it. Ecstasy has permeated their world and is slowly becoming
the drug of choice among local high school students, especially in
suburban towns, police say.

"We're concerned about it because we're seeing more and more of it in
this town, and we never saw it two or three years ago," said Andover
Detective Sgt. Donald H. Pattullo. "The kids who live in Andover and
in some other towns in the Merrimack Valley have money -- some have
allowances, others work -- so it's not a problem for them to buy this
drug."

Parents, who may have grown up with marijuana but are unfamiliar with
Ecstasy, are starting to ask questions about the drug's dangers,
police say.

A report issued Nov. 27 by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America
found that Ecstasy use among seventh-to 12-graders nationwide has
doubled since 1995.

The report found that trial use of Ecstasy among teens has increased
from 5 percent in 1995 to 10 percent this year. In contrast, the
number of teens who said they had tried marijuana was at 40 percent
- -- slightly down from the 41 percent reported last year.

"I know a lot of people who have taken 'E'," said Julie-Anne Plouffe,
a senior and class officer at Methuen High who has never tried the
drug. "The first time they take it I think it's because they're
curious. ... A lot of people take it when they go out dancing and
they seem to enjoy it. I think it makes them relaxed."

Ecstasy is one of a handful of street names for MDMA, or
3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, a powdery synthetic chemical
derived from an oil of the sassafras tree. Manufactured primarily in
clandestine labs overseas, MDMA is pressed into pills, stamped with
identifying designs and smuggled into the United States.

The Drug Enforcement Administration estimates that 2 million Ecstasy
pills enter the country illegally every week, most of it smuggled
through air or ocean cargo. Once on American soil, the pills are
distributed and sold mainly in night clubs, though they can also be
found in high schools and on college campuses across the nation.

A 17-year-old who goes to Andover High said the pill is as easy to
get as it is to find someone willing to buy a case of beer for an
underage drinker. "It's everywhere," added the youth, who asked not
to be named.

John Gartland, special agent in charge of the DEA's operations in New
England, said Ecstasy has become a "huge problem" in the region over
the last year. The agency has teamed up with local, state and federal
officials to crack down on the distribution, sale and use of the
drug, which has reached an all-time high since 1997.

Throughout the five New England states, law enforcement officials
have seized 400,000 Ecstasy pills so far this year -- a 400 percent
increase since 1997, when they seized 10,000 pills, Mr. Gartland said.

"We now have 43 active investigations targeting groups that are
distributing Ecstasy in New England; three years ago, we had none,"
he said. "This is a substance that can be made for 20, 30 cents a
tablet and sold at a retail price of $25 to $40. It's all about money
- -- and it's about finding a market, attacking it aggressively and
trying to convince people that Ecstasy is not a danger."

One of the reasons Ecstasy has become so attractive to young users is
that it is commonly sold in the form of tablets, which have been part
of people's lives since their early years.

As a 24-year-old Lawrence native and Ecstasy user put it, "When your
head hurts, you take Tylenol. When you're feeling depressed, you take
Prozac. When you can't concentrate in school, you take Ritalin. And
when you're sad, you take Ecstasy."

The Eagle-Tribune interviewed a handful of local teen-agers who have
used Ecstasy. The names of those quoted in this story were either
changed or omitted to protect their identities.

High And Low

Ecstasy -- which has been dubbed the "love drug" -- is said to
produce profoundly positive feelings, eliminate anxiety, and suppress
the need to eat, drink or sleep, enabling users to easily endure the
all-night dance parties known as raves. About half an hour after
swallowing a hit, Ecstasy users begin to feel peaceful, empathetic
and energetic -- not edgy, just clear. The drug allows their minds to
wander, but users say they still remain in control.

"The first time you take a pill, you feel better than you've ever
felt in your life," Mary said. "It's almost an orgasmic feeling.
There's an extremely high fun factor involved with taking Ecstasy. It
makes people happy very easily."

An Ecstasy high can last as many as six hours, with its peak varying
between one to three hours. Ecstasy is popular because it appears to
have few negative consequences -- and because all it takes to get
high is to drop the aspirin-size, colorful pill.

"You don't have to smoke it, you don't have to snort it, and you
don't have to inject it," said Kevin J. Stanton, deputy director of
the Governor's Alliance Against Drugs. "A lot of kids don't like to
inhale or to inject drugs, so when they do Ecstasy, it's like they're
taking a pharmaceutical prescription, but what many of these kids
don't know is that there are serious consequences involved with using
the drug."

With Ecstasy's elation comes an array of potentially dangerous
short-term effects that include tremors, increase in body
temperature, loss of bodily fluid, involuntary teeth clenching,
muscle cramping, blurred vision, hallucinations, chills, nausea and
sweating, experts say. Overdoses are characterized by high blood
pressure, faintness, panic attacks and, in more severe cases, loss of
consciousness, seizures and drastic rises in body temperature.

Ecstasy-related emergency room incidents rose from 68 in 1993 to
1,142 in 1998, according to national statistics provided by the Drug
Abuse Warning Network.

Some neuroscientists say Ecstasy's perils stem from the same
neurochemical reaction that causes its pleasures.

After MDMA enters the bloodstream, it aims with a laser-like
precision at the brain cells that release serotonin -- a chemical
messenger that controls mood, appetite, sleep, memory and body
temperature -- causing them to disgorge their contents.

By taking Ecstasy, users risk short-circuiting the body's ability to
control its temperature, according to a 1999 study published in the
Journal of Neuroscience. In some cases, the study says, the body
temperature can climb as high as 110 degrees, and at such extreme,
the blood starts to coagulate.

In the past decade, Mr. Stanton said, 69 people around the world have
died this way.

Suburban Market

Until recently, young professionals and college students who frequent
the club scene were the main targets of Ecstasy dealers, but the drug
has now become popular among high school students.

In 1997, 4 percent of 12th-grade students nationwide tried Ecstasy,
but in 1999, the figure jumped to 5.5 percent, according to DEA
statistics. Among 10th-graders, the numbers are 3.9 percent and 4.4
percent respectively.

Police officers in Andover, Methuen and North Andover agree that
Ecstasy is mostly marketed to upper middle-class teens, who have no
problem affording it. While cocaine and heroin have plagued
inner-city neighborhoods with their low cost -- a bag of heroin sells
for $5 in Lawrence streets -- Ecstasy is starting to spread in
affluent towns despite its high price.

In March, Andover police seized 100 Ecstasy hits and arrested the man
they said was trying to sell the pills from a hotel parking lot.
Other busts happened this summer in Pelham, N.H., and Kingston, N.H.,
resulting in the arrest of eight people, who were charged with trying
to sell Ecstasy to undercover police officers.

Those who are caught using or selling Ecstasy face between one and 20
years in jail -- a sentence as harsh as that imposed on cocaine and
heroin users and dealers.

"Ecstasy is a difficult drug to find because some of the kids take it
at home or at a friend's house and then go out, so they're not
possessing it when they're out on the street," said an undercover
Andover detective.

In October, North Andover police nabbed a 23-year-old Methuen man
they said was bringing 5,000 Ecstasy pills into town. Earlier in the
year, police seized 1,000 pills, but failed to make an arrest.

"Six thousand tablets is a frightening statistic," Detective Lt. Paul
J. Gallagher said. "When that amount of Ecstasy comes into a suburban
town like North Andover, it's quite scary. We haven't seen too many
possession cases yet, but if these drug dealers are coming here with
that many pills, there has to be someone out there buying it."

The Internet is one of the most effective marketing tools used by
dealers to market their product, according to DEA officials. A search
of the keyword "Ecstasy" produced 141,000 matches -- from scores of
newspaper and magazine articles on the drug, to Web sites such as
Ecstasy.org, which carries testimonials from people who say the drug
can treat schizophrenia and help you make "contact with dead
relatives."

A major obstacle for police in the war against Ecstasy is the fact
that Ecstasy is so small that it can be easily concealed and that
dealers can easily blend in with buyers, local law enforcement
officials said.

"The Ecstasy dealer is totally different from the heroin or cocaine
dealer," said the Andover detective, who did not want to be
identified because of his undercover work. "You're talking about kids
with a lot of money who don't look too different from a high school
kid."

Mr. Gartland said dealers will walk into a party, approach and
befriend the teens and get them to use the drug through peer pressure.

"Of course nobody will make you do it, but it's a fact that Ecstasy
is out there and for the first few times kids use it, the drug seems
to be fun," he said. "What they don't know is that they will build up
tolerance and will need more and more pills to get high, but when
they abstain from the drug, they will start feeling depressed. And
once the damage is done, there's no way back."

Last year, the National Institute on Drug Abuse released a study that
provided the first direct evidence that Ecstasy can cause
long-lasting damage to brain areas responsible for thought and
memory. Researchers found that habitual Ecstasy users have memory
problems that persist for at least two weeks after they stop using
the drug, though they have yet to determine how long the damage
persists and what the consequences are to human behavior.

Educating Parents

In August, the federal government launched a $5 million radio and
Internet campaign to educate parents about the dangers of Ecstasy.
With spots in 106 radio markets across the country and advertising on
popular Web sites, the campaign also warns parents that because most
all-night dance parties are alcohol-free, they are not necessarily
safe for teens.

"One of the things we're trying to do is to get parents and school
teachers involved in learning exactly what Ecstasy is, what the
effects are," Mr. Stanton said. "Ecstasy really wasn't a popular drug
two generations ago. Most parents know a good deal about marijuana
and alcohol, but they know little about Ecstasy."

Over the past 10 months, the DEA has been running an extensive
program with law enforcement officials, educators, community leaders
and students. Just last week, Mr. Gartland said, 450 people --
including local police officers, state police troopers and high
school teachers -- spent the day learning about the drug and its
dangers. "We're very aggressively trying to get the word out."

Local police have also joined in the fight. Some police departments
have been visiting schools and talking to seventh-to 12th-graders
about health risks that come with dropping Ecstasy.

Because Ecstasy has only recently begun to circulate in the area,
police are also taking the time to talk about it to older officers,
who may never before have seen or dealt with the drug.

In North Andover a few months ago, Lt. Gallagher said he took some
time to show the old-timers what Ecstasy pills look like and explain
the effects on users and the type of behavior to watch for.

"What's also happening now is that we have a lot of parents and
school teachers calling the station to try and find out what Ecstasy
is," he added. "It's a fairly new drug to all of us, and I guess we
all have to be educated one way or another."