STINGS TARGET `TEEN NIGHTS'

Officers Make Arrests Over Sales Of Club Drug Ecstasy At The Church,
National Western Dance

Denver is cracking down on the use of club drugs at "teen nights."

Recent stings uncovering sale of the drug Ecstasy resulted in revocation of
one nightclub's teen night license, and two other clubs' privileges are
under review, Mayor Wellington Webb and Police Chief Gerry Whitman said
Tuesday.

The hit-and-run death of an 18-year-old man early Sunday after a giant
dance party didn't cause the crackdown, according to Webb, who said the
action reflects a larger drug problem in Denver.

"This community will not tolerate illegal drug usage and if you are caught
selling or using drugs . . . whether it be at a nightclub, a so-called rave
party or anywhere else, there are consequences," Webb added.

The Church, at 1160 Lincoln St., was notified Monday that its teen night
license was rescinded. Undercover police arrested one unidentified young
man there on Feb. 22 for allegedly selling Ecstasy, said Regas Christou,
The Church's managing partner.

Christou said the city is sending the anti-drug message in the wrong way.

"They think by shutting down the venues, they're going to shut down the
Ecstasy use," he said. "That's just ludicrous."

Christou said if the city was serious about curtailing drug use by minors,
it should educate the kids, their parents and workers at the clubs.

He believes the city is overreacting to Jared Snyder's death Sunday and
Brittney Chamber's death last month. The Louisville girl went into a coma
after being given Ecstasy as a present at her 16th birthday party.

After he received his revocation letter, Christou said he talked to someone
at the city's Department of Excise and License and got a different story.
Christou said he was told he didn't lose his license, but must not allow an
over-21 crowd to be drinking alcohol in a nearby room on teen night.

But Helen Gonzales, Denver's director of excise and licenses, said the
license was revoked because of the Ecstasy arrest and a report of the
"co-mingling" of the different aged crowds. People under 21 are not allowed
anywhere liquor is served, she said.

Christou said he plans on having his regular teen night Thursday, just like
he has since he opened The Church in 1998.

"The kids are great," he said. "I don't have a problem with them."

Two other clubs are under review for possible revocation, Aztlan Theatre,
974 Santa Fe Drive, and the Ogden Theater, 935 E. Colfax Ave., Gonzales said.

The stings were launched three weeks ago and targeted the three nightclubs,
as well as the dance at at the National Western Complex Events Center,
which police think Snyder attended.

Officers responded to complaints called in to a hot line, said Denver
Police Lt. Tony Lopez. "We weren't just out there on a fishing expedition,"
he said.

Undercover police made nine arrests for "hand-to-hand purchases" of
Ecstasy, one for marijuana and another for an outstanding warrant at the
National Western dance, Lopez said.

Kids are turning to club drugs because lower-alcohol beers sales were
banned to the 18-to-21 crowd several years ago, Lopez said.

In addition to Ecstasy, Denver police will also be targeting the use of
other club drugs such as methamphetamine, Ketamine, LSD, rohypnol and
Gamma-Hydroxybutyrate, or GHB.

Ecstasy is also known as X or XTC. It's popular because it promotes a
positive, relaxing feeling for four to six hours. It also supresses the
need to eat, drink or sleep and sometimes results in severe dehydration or
exhaustion.