LONGER SENTENCES SOUGHT FOR ECSTASY TRAFFICKERS

WASHINGTON, March 20 - The United States Sentencing Commission moved today
to toughen the penalty for selling the drug Ecstasy.

Under current guidelines, the sale of 2,750 grams, or about 11,000 pills,
is punishable by five years in prison. The new standards lower the
threshold for a five-year sentence to 200 grams, or about 800 pills.

Sentencing guidelines for powdered cocaine, by comparison, call for five
years in prison for selling 500 grams of that drug.

The commission, which sets sentencing guidelines for federal judges, has
been pressured by Congress to stiffen penalties for trafficking in Ecstasy,
which has gained popularity among teenagers at nightclubs and at all-night
dance parties known as raves.

The commission's action today was an "emergency amendment" to its
guidelines; it has until May 1 to submit a proposal to Congress, which
could make the change permanent.