FEDS SEEK TO QUASH 'ECSTASY' BY SHUTTING DOWN CLUBS

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - ``It's all about the music,'' Amber said,
smiling angelically, her head dipping low as she turns slowly, her
fingers tracing intricate patterns in the air.

``The music is the only drug I need,'' added the willowy 17-year-old
in baggy jeans and an out-sized pale blue smock, a fluorescent violet
necklace at her throat, her smile growing.

The music is insistent, hypnotic, as it tunnels its way into the head,
drilling variations on an electronic theme like some sort of acoustic
tool for microsurgery on the brain.

The music is techno and Amber is one of 1,000 mostly very young,
mostly white, revelers at a ``rave'' at the cavernous old Armory
building in the nation's capital. Like the music, the very air of the
place seems electric with a raw, roiling, turbulent, unsettling power.

No surprise, then, that some spoilsports want to shut it down. Not for
the music, they say, or the dancing, the laughter or even the sexual
juices that inevitably flow here and at other rave scenes around the
United States, Europe and other parts of the world -- but for the drugs.

The drug of choice, critics say, is ``ecstasy,'' or MDMA -- a
controversial stimulant and mild hallucinogen sometimes called the
``love drug'' because of the feelings of goodwill and tendencies
toward physical affection it is said to engender.

Joe Keefe, chief of operations for the Drug Enforcement Administration
in Washington, told Reuters in an interview that use of ecstasy at
rave houses is rampant and growing, and that promoters and proprietors
of these venues are running criminal enterprises that encourage and
facilitate dangerous drug use.

Chill Rooms, Pacifiers, Light Sticks

``Kids are overdosing at these parties,'' said Keefe. ``They have what
they call 'chill rooms' where the kids go because they're so
overheated because of the dancing and the drug use. They're not
discouraging the drug use, they're providing an environment and
paraphernalia that goes along with it.''

Keefe said this includes baby pacifiers used to keep the hopped-up
kids from grinding their teeth and fluorescent light sticks used to
amplify the hallucinogenic effects of the drug.

Rejecting the argument of rave operators that they search for drugs
and confiscate what they find -- and actively discourage the use of
ecstasy and other drugs -- Keefe insists they ``are doing a pretty
good job of helping facilitate it'' by providing chill rooms, ice
water, pacifiers and other items.

``Although we believe the government may have the best intentions, our
basic contention is this policy is detrimental and counterproductive''
to the end of discouraging drug use and keeping kids safe, said Eric
Tomasi, spokesman for Responsible Party Movement, the
Baltimore-Washington chapter of DanceSafe.

DanceSafe, a national organization that grew out of the rave scene,
seeks to ``reduce drug abuse and empower young people to make healthy,
informed lifestyle choices,'' according to the group's Web site at
www.dancesafe.org.

Tomasi said the group's focus on ``harm reduction'' accepts the fact
that kids will use drugs and focuses on educating them about dangers,
including overheating and dehydration associated with ecstasy,
impurities in street drugs and other issues.

``These events are going to happen,'' he said of the rave scene. ``The
electronic dance community is very large and getting larger.'' If the
government succeeds in shutting down the clubs, he added, ``it is our
fear that these venues are going to go back underground ... in unsafe
and unlicensed ventures that don't have adequate ventilation or
adequate water supply or quite honestly adequate fire
prevention.''

New Orleans Test Case

Such concerns have not stopped the DEA and Justice Department (news -
web sites) from trying, although they have yet to succeed in shutting
down more than a handful of clubs.

Those that have closed their doors, including one run by Robert Brunet
and James ``Donnie'' Estopinal in New Orleans, did so after federal
prosecutors filed charges against the proprietors in a controversial
and unprecedented use of a U.S. ''crack house statute'' used in many
cities to shut down the houses where crack cocaine dealers set up shop.

Civil liberties lawyers, warning that the same statute might later be
used to shut down rock clubs where marijuana is smoked or jazz clubs
that serve an occasional minor, say U.S. Attorney Eddie Jordan in New
Orleans is planning to charge Brunet and Estopinal using even more
draconian legal means.

Jordan did not return calls seeking comment but Graham Boyd, an
attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union (news - web sites) in
New York, said Jordan had threatened during failed plea bargaining to
reindict the two under a racketeering statute for running a
``continuing criminal enterprise,'' a charge that carries a 20-year
prison term.

``What the government is trying to do here is criminalizing an
activity that takes place all over the country all of the time --
which is holding a concert,'' said Boyd. ``It's as if in the 1920s
Prohibition authorities said there can be no more jazz clubs because
of alcohol or marijuana use.''

First Amendment Protections

``What this does is allow the DEA and the government to look tough but
endangers the people who attend these concerts. The Supreme Court has
said and many lower courts have agreed that the performance of music
is protected by the First Amendment,'' said Boyd, predicting the
federal government's campaign to shut down rave clubs will ultimately
fail.

``I think we all know that drugs are used at musical venues ... but it
is only this form of electronic music that is used as a proxy for real
drug enforcement,'' he said, arguing the DEA should focus on busting
traffickers and leave clubs alone.

The DEA's Keefe said drug enforcers are moving in both directions and
have had some major successes breaking up European and Israeli
criminal organizations producing and wholesaling ecstasy in Europe and
the United States.

``We're working very well with our counterparts'' in Europe, where
much of the world's MDMA is produced, he said. He cited a joint
U.S.-Netherlands investigation that led to the September 2000 seizure
of 6 million doses of ecstasy and the arrest of Tamir Ibrahim, an
Israeli-Egyptian national charged with running a major ecstasy ring.

Keefe agreed enforcement is only part of the solution and called for
more research on MDMA and education of teens and their parents on the
medical effects of the drug. Dehydration and heat stroke are the most
obvious dangers, but memory loss and an imbalance in serotonin in the
brain are also a major danger in repeated users, he said.

Ecstasy appears to elevate serotonin levels in the brain, creating a
sense of euphoria and wellbeing. There is growing evidence, however,
that prolonged use can lead to a depletion in the brain's capacity to
produce serotonin, which in turn can lead to depression and other
mental and emotional problems.

The DEA seized 1,775,181 doses of ecstasy in the United States in
2000, up from 1,054,253 in 1999 and 26,111 in 1995.