DEA EXPERT TELLS POLICE OF ECSTASY MENACE

Officers Statewide Hear Drug's Effects

Law enforcement officers from across Illinois gathered Thursday for
two Chicago-area summit meetings on the club drug Ecstasy and its
variants, sharing information and digesting presentations from experts
who outlined the fight against a substance that is quickly becoming a
major target for police.

More than 140 officers from police departments as far away as
Champaign and Rock Island attended a morning meeting at the Naperville
Police Department, which handled one of the recent deaths of a
teenager attributed to the use of an Ecstasy look-alike pill. In the
afternoon, Chicago police officers, FBI agents and others gathered at
the Chicago office of the Drug Enforcement Administration for a
presentation by a DEA specialist.

Dr. David Gauvin, a drug science expert at the DEA's Drug and Chemical
Evaluation Section in Washington, provided a top-to-bottom look at
Ecstasy's history, popularity and the pharmacology behind its effects.

The presentations came on the heels of word that the death of a third
Chicago-area victim may be tied to the unwitting use of PMA, a
powerful hallucinogen often mistaken for typical Ecstasy pills, which
contain methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA).

Steve Lorenz, 17, of McHenry, died May 7 after apparently ingesting
PMA that he thought was Ecstasy, and Sara Aeschlimann, 18, of
Naperville apparently took a fatal dose of the same powerful stimulant
marked with the Mitsubishi logo a week later.

On Saturday, 20-year-old Jason Burnett of Lisle died in what police
are calling a drug-related incident.

Authorities have confirmed that pills matching the same description as
those used by the Naperville woman and the McHenry boy have been
recovered from his home as well, and Lisle and Naperville police are
expected to compare notes Friday.

Gauvin concentrated his remarks on MDMA, but mentioned PMA early in
his presentation. The Ecstasy variant has been responsible for deaths
in Australia and Canada over the decades, he said, and is a club drug
that is on the rebound.

"In Windsor [Ontario] in the late 1970s, it was known as `Death,'"
Gauvin said. "You know why from your recent history here in Chicago."

Gauvin told those gathered that Ecstasy is flooding the United States
from underground production labs in Europe. Federal statistics show
that in the U.S., more than 12 million tablets were seized by law
enforcement in 1999, compared with just 1.2 million the previous year.

"You can imagine how much is out there unseized," said Gauvin, who
added that federal authorities estimate that 750,000 tablets are used
each week in the New York-New Jersey area alone.

Dance clubs and rave parties remain the primary distribution points
for club drugs in this country, Gauvin said.

Beyond the statistics, Chicago police in the audience said they
especially valued Gauvin's insights on Ecstasy users. Gauvin described
how teens hide the drug in candy, suck pacifiers to tame the
involuntary teeth-clenching experienced while under the influence of
Ecstasy and breathe through face masks smeared with menthol rubs for
the sensation it provides while the bronchi in the lungs are fully
dilated from the drug.

Chicago tactical officer Phil Dougherty said he was surprised to learn
that Ecstasy how-to's have been published recently in magazines easily
accessible to teens.

"What we're hearing is good, fresh information," he
said.

Gauvin described how Ecstasy users, experiencing the release of
tremendous amounts of the chemical serotonin in the brain, seek
constant stimulation. The stimulant is known to increase sensory
perception and produce mild hallucinogenic effects.

Users typically "stack" the drug, he said, taking three or more
tablets at once to produce a kick, or "piggy-back," taking a series of
pills over several hours.

After recounting Ecstasy's biological effects, Gauvin described its
dangers.

Taking Ecstasy can quickly boost body temperature and heart rate, he
said, leading to kidney failure, heart attacks or strokes. As
evidenced by the Chicago-area cases, the pills can often contain
substances that are even more dangerous.

One variety called "Space" now being sold in New York has been found
to contain a mixture of MDMA and heroin, Gauvin said.

MDMA itself is toxic to the human brain, he said, damaging the
neurotransmitters that it affects. Use of the substance results in
"oxidative stress" on brain cells, Gauvin said, the same process that
causes bananas to brown and nails to rust. Studies have shown brain
injury after one usage, he said.

Users react differently to the drug, Gauvin said, depending on their
weight and the circumstances of their use. In one fatal event, an
Ecstasy user had a MDMA blood level of just 1.26 milligrams per liter,
while another patient who had a documented MDMA blood level of 44
milligrams per liter walked away.

"You can't predict from the MDMA level how you will respond in the
emergency room," he said.

Don Sturn, special agent in charge at the Chicago's DEA office, said
Gauvin's presentation was given to DEA specialists as well Thursday
morning.

"There is no one who has walked out of that room without learning a
great deal," Sturn said.

In Naperville, police heard from a St. Louis-area specialist who
recounted similar information, and from the Edward Hospital doctor who
was the attending physician in the Aeschlimann case.

Officers discussed the Naperville case and heard from Joe Ruggiero of
the DuPage County state's attorney's office on pending legislative
changes designed to combat Ecstasy and other club drugs.

"We called the meeting because Naperville can't lead the charge [for
the state]," said Sgt. Ray McGury. "Law enforcement needs to educate
and get educated."

After the Naperville session, a contingent from the department that
included Police Chief David Dial traveled to the DEA summit.