RISING ALARM ABOUT USE OF ECSTASY BY TEENAGERS

THE drug Ecstasy, long a fixture of Manhattan's club scene, is gaining
favor with Westchester teenagers, and county officials have begun a
campaign to warn the public of its dangers.

County Executive Andrew J. Spano recently sent letters to 640,000
households with teenagers, warning, "More and more of our youth are
possessing the drug, taking the drug, selling the drug and either getting
sick or being arrested as a result."

Prosecutions involving Ecstasy have increased sharply, said District
Attorney Jeanine Pirro, rising to 80 last year from virtually none in 1998.
Since 1999, the police have seized more than 25,000 tablets worth more than
$500,000.

"It's disturbing because unlike heroin or cocaine, a lot of the customer
base is between 16 and 25," Ms. Pirro said. "Somehow this drug has been
sensationalized where young people think, 'Oh, this is something I should
try,' without realizing this is not only a serious crime but a serious drug."

Ms. Pirro said that in the county, the police have seen Ecstasy users
becoming suppliers. "What young people need to realize is that you can face
up to seven years in prison for selling one pill," she said.

Ecstasy, whose scientific name is methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA),
produces feelings of euphoria and emotional well-being and gives the user
enormous stamina. Usually sold in pill form, it ranges in price from about
$7 to $30 a pill.

Because Ecstasy lowers inhibitions and social awkwardness, it has fast
become the drug of choice for teenagers, say those who counsel local youth.
Student Assistance Services in Tarrytown, which provides drug and alcohol
counseling in public schools in the county, reported that last year, 582 of
the 2,040 substance abusers in their programs admitted to using the drug.
These figures don't reflect the total usage, said Andrea Fallick, assistant
director for school-based programs for the agency.

Teenagers' use of the drug in Westchester mirrors national trends, Ms.
Fallick said. In a national survey of 45,200 students, the proportion of
eighth-grade students reporting any use of Ecstasy rose to 3.1 percent in
2000 from 1.7 percent in 1999. Among 10th graders, the use of Ecstasy rose
to 5.4 percent from 4.4 percent, and among 12th graders to 8.2 percent from
5.6 percent. Ecstasy, she said, is used by more American teenagers today
than cocaine.

In Westchester, teenagers are getting the drug at clubs in Manhattan or at
house parties, Ms. Pirro said. She said "teen nights" at clubs, when
alcohol is not served, are often big nights for Ecstasy sales.

Ms. Pirro's office has also prosecuted "runners," people who travel to
Manhattan or the Bronx to buy the drug and return to Westchester to sell
it. Last year, six teenagers were arrested and charged with selling Ecstasy
on and around the Byram Hills High School campus in Armonk.

"You can rest assured that these drugs are being used in many, many of the
high schools in this county," Ms. Pirro said. "The fact that Byram Hills
has been identified does not exclude other high schools as having a problem."

High school counselors agree.

"We are seeing Ecstasy all over the county and we are very concerned," Ms.
Fallick said. "Kids really don't appreciate the dangers. What happens when
you take Ecstasy is, because it feels so good, it takes away what we call
good paranoia. They no longer have that in terms of judging who they can
really trust and what's safe, because they love everybody -- and we all
know not everyone is lovable."

Ms. Fallick said that high school counselors have had reports of rapes,
sexual abuse and other victimization involving the use of Ecstasy. The
risks of the drug, she said, are multiple. Teenagers who buy the drug
cannot be sure what they are actually getting. And Ecstasy has dangerous
side effects.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Ecstasy shares the
properties of hallucinogenic and stimulant drugs. Short-term effects
include increased heart rate, blood pressure and body temperature. An
evening of strenuous activity on Ecstasy, like dancing all night, can lead
to dehydration, hypertension and heart and kidney failure.

"The concern is that Ecstasy does feel so good that kids don't really
appreciate the dangers," Ms. Fallick said. "It doesn't matter how bright
they are or what good kids they are, this drug puts them at risk."