TOUGHER PENALTIES FOR CLUB DRUGS SOUGHT

Measure Proposed By Two State Lawmakers Would Make Possession Of
Ecstasy A Felony Offense

With club drugs such as Ecstasy gaining in popularity among suburban
Wisconsin youth, two state lawmakers want to make possession a felony
offense, carrying penalties similar to those for illegal drugs more
commonly found in urban areas.

"There should not be a distinction between the dangerous drugs used
by suburban kids and the dangerous drugs used by kids in inner city
Milwaukee," said Rep. Gregg Underheim (R-Oshkosh).

Underheim is co-sponsoring a bill that police and drug counselors
believe also would funnel more young club-drug users into treatment
if it is enacted. An Assembly committee is to address the measure
next week.

Possession of club drugs such as methylenedioxymethamphetamine - most
commonly known by its street name, Ecstasy - is a misdemeanor offense
in Wisconsin, carrying a maximum penalty of up to $500 in fines or
confinement in jail for not more than 30 days, or both.

Under the bill proposed by Underheim and state Sen. Jon Erpenbach
(D-Middleton), possession of the drugs would be a felony offense.

The maximum fine would increase to $5,000, and conviction also would
carry imprisonment of up to two years.

Because of the high costs associated with the state's growing rave
scene - tickets to get into the all-night techno dance parties can
run from $25 to $75, and hits of Ecstasy go for $20 to $25 each -
club drugs are more a suburban phenomenon than an urban problem,
according to police and drug counselors.

Affluence Abets Drug Use

And because club drug users often come from affluent families, many
can easily pay a misdemeanor fine and avoid entering treatment if
they're caught with the drugs.

"Kids who can afford to pay the fine - who's going to want to sit
through treatment?" said Madison police Detective George Chavez, who
speaks to state law enforcement agencies, school officials, drug
counselors and health care professionals about club drugs and the
rave scene.

Underheim said Dane County Assistant District Attorney Mary Ellen
Karst and Chavez, a member of the Dane County Narcotics & Gang Task
Force, proposed the bill, expressing concern that current penalties
for Ecstasy are out of line with the potential damage the drug can do.

Ecstasy-related emergency room visits across the country increased
from 1,143 in 1998 to 2,850 in 1999, according to the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration.

In Madison, the emergency room at St. Mary's Hospital Medical Center
is "a mess" in the early morning hours after large rave parties in
the city, said Michael J. Foley, a physician at the hospital.

Ravers come into the emergency room with body temperatures higher
than 105 degrees with pulses racing. Some go into cardiac arrest or
must be placed on kidney dialysis.

One young man, 16-year-old Brett Zweifel of Madison, was found dead
last year after taking a lethal dose of Ecstasy at a Madison rave
that attracted about 1,000 people.

Ecstasy-related deaths are more prevalent in other parts of the country.

In Florida, for example, there were 234 deaths related to the use of
club drugs from 1997 to 2000, officials said at a U.S. Senate hearing
in March.

Abuse Increase 'Amazing'

"It's amazing, the use and the rise that we're seeing," Chavez said
at a recent conference on the rave scene and club drugs at Waukesha
Memorial Hospital. "It continues to grow. It's definitely a problem."

Chavez said police are seeing more street-level dealers of Ecstasy in
the Madison area, peddling a psychoactive and hallucinogenic drug
that produces a four-to six-hour "roll," or high. In comparison,
crack cocaine typically produces only about a 30-minute high.

"People are starting to realize they can get more bang for their buck
out of 'X,' " Chavez said, using a shortened street name for Ecstasy.

Madison police seized 1,000 tablets of Ecstasy concealed in a
Starburst candy bag in a bust earlier this year. In Milwaukee,
another dealer, who authorities say is one of the largest known
Ecstasy distributors in Wisconsin, awaits trial on accusations of
selling thousands of tablets.

News reports indicate club drugs are spreading beyond Madison and
Milwaukee, popping up in rural parts of the state, such as Lancaster
in southwestern Wisconsin. Underheim said raves and the club drugs
often associated with them also are appearing in the Fox Valley area.

"The law enforcement community is working aggressively to deal with
the problem," said Underheim. "This bill would give law enforcement
more tools they need to control the use of this drug."

Dave Poehlmann, a chemical dependency counselor at Waukesha Memorial
Hospital's Lawrence Center, said young club-drug users are for the
most part oblivious to the harmful effects of the drugs.

Because Ecstasy alters serotonin levels in the brain, chronic use can
lead to long-term or permanent damage to parts of the brain critical
to thought, memory and pleasure, research shows. Many Ecstasy users
are diagnosed with depression after long-term use.

Poehlmann said increasing the penalties for possession and pushing
more users into treatment might help curb the growing use of Ecstasy.

"The kids are definitely enamored with it, there's no doubt about
it," Poehlmann said, agreeing with Chavez's assessment that even
after kids are arrested on accusations of possessing Ecstasy, they
still rave about the effects of "the hug drug," which heightens
users' sensitivity to touch.

"Kids operate under the myth of invincibility," Poehlmann said. "The
word 'felony' catches their attention."