ALL THE 'RAVE' - DANCE PARTIES PROMOTE DRUGS Newmarket police and agents from the N.H. Attorney General's Office Drug Task Force arrested a man two weeks ago in connection with selling Ecstasy. They arrested another suspect on possession of the drug. Kingston police last month broke up what they call an Ecstasy drug ring. A former police officer, who committed suicide and whose body was found in an Atkinson home in July, had Ecstasy in his body at the time of his death. Dover police and state drug agents made several Ecstasy busts in that city early this summer, closing down a "rave," a special dance party that promotes Ecstasy and other psychedelic drugs. The numbers of Ecstasy pills seized by drug agents in southern New Hampshire are off the charts. Seizures have increased from just two Ecstasy pills three years ago to more than 879 pills this year, with more seizures and undercover buys expected before the year's end. "I think the numbers speak for themselves, pretty much," said an undercover agent for the drug task force. "It makes you wonder how much else is out there that we're not getting." Virtually all of the purchases and seizures made by drug agents have been in southern New Hampshire, in the Manchester-to-Portsmouth corridor, they say. Few Ecstasy buys or seizures have been made in the northern tier of the state. After two Ecstasy pills were seized in 1997, task force agents saw no more of the drug until 1998 when they seized 273 pills. "September of '98 was the first actual purchase," she said. Last year, 1999, task force drug agents seized or purchased another 426 pills. This year's 879 pills represent only the first eight months of the year 2000. These numbers do not include Ecstasy that has been confiscated by local police without the help of the drug task force. "Some of them can be large purchases and some can be as little as one," she said. The drug, said another agent, is a small pill manufactured for as little as $1 apiece. Pills sell for between $10 and $20 on the street, and are sold at raves for $25 a pill or more. "First of all, it's a small pill. One dose lasts for hours, so you're getting a lot of bang for your buck," she said. It is called the "hug drug" because it reportedly gives users a feeling of community and a sense of camaraderie. "It's very touchy feely. They want to hug everybody. They think life's terrific," she said. All of their senses are heightened while under the drug's influence. Then, too, there's the issue of getting caught. The risk factors with a tiny pill are far less than with other types of drugs such as marijuana. Ecstasy pills are small and easy to hide and have no drug paraphernalia associated with them. The pills come in different colors and are stamped with various insignia and trademarks. "They might be white with Tweetie birds," said the drug task force agent. Other have apples or other markings. Some are red. "I've seen some the color of an eraser that had a fish stamped on them. I bought a marbled pill with the fish and I was told by my informant that it actually was cut with heroin. These kids don't know what the heck is in them." "Ecstasy is a psycho-active drug that possesses a stimulant and a mild hallucinogenic property," she said. "The music and the lights (at raves) enhance the property (of the drug)." While many pills make their way into the country from as far away as Amsterdam and Israel, where Ecstasy is manufactured by the Russian Mafia, say agents, other pills come from unknown sources. New Hampshire's supply is making its way here from New York, via Massachusetts, but the origin of most Ecstasy pills found in the Seacoast is unknown, law enforcement officials say. Some pills are made in makeshift home laboratories. "You get some yo-yo putting it together in the cellar," said one agent. Then, too, there are recipes for Ecstasy on the Internet. The frightening part about them, agents say, is that kids who have never used drugs before are popping Ecstasy pills, and the drug is becoming popular among junior high and high school students. "Pot is still a big thing, but this isn't your typical pot smoker," she said. "I don't think you can come up with a prototype of the kid that is using Ecstasy. There are wealthy kids and poor kids. Kids that are trouble and kids that are not in trouble." What is equally upsetting, agents say, is that kids who attend raves are being robbed beyond belief. The cost of entrance to a rave, an all-night drug dance party, is about $25. On top of that, the cost of one Ecstasy pill can be up to $30 at the party. "At $25 to $30 bucks a pill, if you're packing 600 people into a room ... that's a lot of money," the agent said. And because the drug affects the body's thermostat, kids over-dance and overheat. As a result, the promoters of the raves sell the kids water at a cost of $4 to $6 a bottle. The kids purchase and drink them all night long. In addition, said the agent, kids purchase glow sticks from the promoters and they attach them to various parts of their bodies. Glow sticks can cost $1.50 or more. "They buy them. They have them on their hands. They have halos. We had one kid who had his nipples pierced. It's freaky looking. They're high on drugs," she said. Some of the kids walk around with pacifiers in their mouths because the drug causes grinding of the teeth. Others put Vicks VapoRub in nose inhalers to enhance the high. Others wear surgical masks with the Vicks inside, she said. "You watch these kids walking around with glow sticks all over their heads with surgical masks on with glow sticks in their mouths, with pacifiers," she said. "You're not talking just one. There are groups of kids walking around like this. That's the norm. Who figured all this out, I don't know. Where did it come from?" Agents say users get a four-to six-hour high from an Ecstasy pill. And while there have been no Ecstasy-related deaths reported yet in New Hampshire, both children and adults using the drug have suffered collapses while under the drug's influence. There were several teens transported to the hospital from the Dover rave last summer. At least one teen was transported to a local hospital from a Seacoast roller-skating rink after collapsing from the drug use. "They don't care what they're putting in their system," said the undercover agent. "They have no concept what it will do to them. Some people will put anything together and sell it as Ecstasy." And while she admits there have as yet been no deaths in New Hampshire, it is only one pill and a dead body away, she says, noting that there have been deaths in other parts of the country from the use of Ecstasy laced with other substances. While some raves take place out of public view and tend to be large private parties, public raves, such as the one in Dover last summer, are put together by professional promoters. "These raves are very well organized," said the agent. When they are closed up in one location, they tend to pop up in new locations. They take their entire staff with them. They advertise. They have promotional brochures and fliers. It's not like a handwritten piece of paper stuck to somebody's windshield." "You can't say all of them have drugs," she said. Still, drugs are usually a part of the scene. "It's extremely manipulative. These people are promoting these things for the purpose of selling drugs. The drug dealing is organized in a lot of them. You get people showing up who are selling. Then you have others where the purpose of selling these parties is to sell your products." Those include the water and the glow sticks. But the kids are on a high and they don't get it. "They are totally accepting, but the bottom line is it's manipulative money. It's completely feeding off these kids. They're feeling accepted. They're having grand-old time all night long. What they don't realize is who's laughing at the top of the totem pole," the agent said. "It's amazing how many of these kids are sucked into it," she said. Many who follow the raves come from across the country. The rave in Dover included teens from as far away as New York City. It's like following the Grateful Dead. It's like cult-type things."
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