DRUG CZAR FIGHTS CLUB DRUGS IN FORT COLLINS

Club drugs, including ecstasy, ketamine and GHB, are the nation's biggest
problem and the Drug Enforcement Administration's top priority, DEA
director Asa Hutchinson said.

And as the DEA keeps the drugs in its crosshairs, the rapidly growing
problem doesn't seem to be slowing, said Hutchinson, Wednesday's keynote
speaker at the Rocky Mountain Club Drug Conference at Colorado State
University.

Club drugs are targeted to a young population including elementary and
junior high school students. In America last year, 140 youths died in
club-drug-related overdoses.

The drugs are made to resemble common medications, Hutchinson said. "That
leads young people to believe they must be safer (than drugs that are
snorted, injected or smoked)," he said.

More than 200 educators, substance-abuse counselors and law enforcement
agents are in Fort Collins for the three-day conference dedicated to
sharing information and creating a cooperative effort to fight the problem.

Club drugs are easy to hide and easy to distribute, Hutchinson said. And
the problem is getting bigger every year.

In 1998, the DEA seized less than 1 million tablets of ecstasy, the most
commonly seized club drug, said David Gauvin, DEA drug science officer, who
spoke at the conference Wednesday. In 2000, more than 8 million tablets
were seized. Drugs such as ecstasy are catching on through the rave scene.
Raves are all-night parties commonly held in fields or warehouses, driven
by pulsating electronic music, attended by teens and 20-somethings. While
he noted that not all rave-goers take illicit drugs, Hutchinson said,
"there is a close association between the rave scene and club-drug use."

"(Club) drugs are now a part of our nation's entertainment," Gauvin said.
The drugs produce euphoria and a heightened sensation of touch, sight and
smell.What many young people don't understand is that the side effects can
be long-term or deadly, Gauvin said. Ecstasy causes a massive release in
the brain of dopamine and serotonin, chemicals produced naturally by the
body that create a euphoric sensation. That release combined with a rising
temperature and blood pressure sets up what Gauvin calls "a perfect model
for death."

America's best defense is educating the community about club drugs and
getting agencies, including law enforcement and treatment professionals, to
work together, Hutchinson said.