EVEN DEA CHIEF HAD BRUSH WITH CLUB DRUG SCENE

He's the head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

But like any other parent, Asa Hutchinson has the same struggles over how
to react to the dangers of drugs.

Hutchinson, tapped in June to run the DEA, was in Oak Brook on Wednesday to
address a conference on Ecstasy and other club drugs, an increasing problem
for Chicago and the suburbs. He wove a personal tale of why he thinks DEA
needs to do more to educate parents about the risks of club drugs.

After he was appointed to run DEA, Hutchinson said, one of his sons asked
for permission to go to a "rave," a type of dance party.

"He said, 'Dad, I know there's always drugs out there, but you know I just
want to hear the music,' " Hutchinson told a group of about 300 federal,
state and local law enforcement officials.

Hutchinson said he told his son it wasn't a good idea, but his son
responded: "If you have any doubt, why don't you go with me?"

Hutchinson agreed. His son was so proud his dad was going to the dance that
he posted the information on a rave Web site. The DEA and other law
enforcement agencies monitor such sites to track raves because club drug
sales are common there.

"Pretty soon I had a call from Washington--the DEA. They said, 'Where are
you going tonight?' They said, 'You can't go to that rave.' "

"I said, 'I have a son who's ready to go, and you better have a mighty good
reason,' " Hutchinson said.

The DEA responded that agents planned to arrest the promoter of the rave
for allegedly trafficking in Ecstasy, and Hutchinson decided to stay home.

Indeed, the promoter was arrested and about two weeks later, while out on
bail, threw another rave in a Little Rock, Ark., warehouse, where a teenage
boy died with club drugs in his system, Hutchinson said.

"The point of my story," Hutchinson told the group, "is how difficult it is
to get the right information and make the right decisions." He added that
"we do not do enough to help parents."

After Hutchinson's speech, Chicago police Supt. Terry Hillard and Cook
County Sheriff Michael Sheahan agreed to launch a campaign to educate
school superintendents and principals about club drugs, which they
described as a growing scourge for teenagers and young adults in the region.

"This is something that kids think is safe to take," Sheahan said. "But I
know of at least three cases in which kids died thinking they were taking a
safe drug."

Beyond education, authorities think a new law taking effect in January will
help curb club drug sales. A conviction for possessing 15 Ecstasy pills
could result in a prison sentence of at least six years under the new
legislation.

Club drugs have become a pervasive problem in DuPage County, and are
flowing into suburban Cook County and the city of Chicago, officials said.
In Chicago, police have seized more than 200,000 Ecstasy tablets so far
this year, Hillard said.

"It's going to be like crack cocaine and heroin," he said. "It's here to stay."