SENATORS SEEK RESEARCH INTO 'CLUB DRUG'

WASHINGTON -- With more young people using the drug dubbed "ecstacy" in
South Florida and nationwide, Sen. Bob Graham, Florida Democrat, is pushing
for more federal funds for medical research and educational campaigns.

Graham introduced a bill today that would allocate more than $30 million to
address a drug problem that has caught some scientists, police and
anti-narcotics activists by surprise -- the rise of so-called "club" drugs.

Emergency-room visits by users of the drug, which is often consumed at
"raves" and other parties in pill form, rose from 253 to 2,850 in the last
five years, according to a recent hospital survey. A University of Michigan
survey of drug use found that 10 percent of high school seniors had tried
the drug.

"The explosion of club drugs has reached epidemic proportions around the
country," said Sen. Hillary Clinton, New York Democrat, who noted that New
York City police in a raid Tuesday confiscated 1 million pills worth at
least $20 million.

Graham's bill is cosponsored by Clinton; Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn.; Richard
Durbin, D-Ill.; Jeff Sessions, R-Ala.; and Charles Grassley, R-Iowa.