DRUG AWARENESS GROUP GETS NATIONAL RECOGNITION

Colorado Harm Reduction Practice, an ecstasy awareness organization,
this week became the first group of its kind in the state to receive
official recognition from the national organization DanceSafe.

DanceSafe is a nonprofit harm-reduction organization based in
Oakland, Calif., that promotes safety among drug users at rave
parties and nightclubs.

The approval Wednesday means that the Colorado group, DanceSafe's
14th chapter, will be able to use the national organization's logo as
it provides people with ecstasy information.

"Our group was founded by kids who realized that as things go on,
things are going in a negative direction," said Nick Reinig, 19, a
Colorado State University student and a volunteer with the state
group.

The organization that formed in March has about 15 volunteers across
the state, including some in Boulder.

DanceSafe and the Colorado group aim to provide users of "dance
drugs" - including ecstasy, ketamin, GHB and crystal methamphetamine
- - with information that might prevent medical emergencies. The
national organization also provides content tests for ecstasy tablets
at many raves and offers personal testing kits online, both on a
donation basis.

Jo Ruder, program manager of the city of Boulder's behavioral health
program, said she doesn't understand how the group's service helps
drug abusers reduce or end their use of drugs.

"I don't think it's a good thing," she said. "In this specific case
it is promoting drug use."

To determine whether a pill contains ecstasy, according to
DanceSafe's Web site, the organization scrapes off a piece of it and
treats it with a testing solution. The group notifies the user of the
result.

A positive result does not mean the pill is pure. If the result is
negative, the pill is a fake, but the group cannot tell a user what
is in it, according to DanceSafe.

Derek Coxon, a volunteer with the Colorado group, said personal
testing kits determine what substance is in a pill. To do this, it
uses a "Marquis reagent" that changes colors in the presence of
certain drugs.

Coxon said the organization's testing kits are accurate in
determining whether an ecstasy tablet has been adulterated with
substances that are more dangerous than pure ecstasy. But Colorado
Harm Reduction, unlike the national organization, has not used these
tests at raves because they are controversial, Coxon said.

Coxon works specifically with promoters in trying to get the Colorado
group "managing booths" at raves. He said many production companies,
even when the site managers support their cause, are cautious about
inviting them to the parties because of the negative message it might
send to the public and the police.

"The state is looking down on these right now," Coxon said. "It's
really the state's fault that we can't do this."

Coxon said often young people who visit the booth will take their
pills no matter what the test results are.

Lt. Jim Smith with the Boulder County Drug Task Force, said people
who test their pills sometimes prefer to know the quality of their
ecstasy rather than whether the pills are unsafe.

Smith said testing a drug and then returning it to the user might be
considered an act of drug distribution, which is a felony.

"The fact that they get a drug tested doesn't excuse any criminal
penalties," he said.

Meghan Knapp, Colorado Harm Reduction coordinator, said that by
maintaining a neutral stance on drugs, the group has been most
effective with drug users.

The group also floats throughout a party looking for problems and
offers help to anyone who needs it. Knapp also said the group is
working to train each volunteer in cardiopulmonary resuscitation.