STUDY: MORE TEENS USING ECSTASY DRUG

Narcotic Nets $40 A Pill At 'Rave' Parties

Washington --- A new survey of drug use and attitudes among teenagers
indicates that "Ecstasy has become the rave generation's cocaine," the
president of a national anti-drug organization warned Monday.

Ecstasy is an illegal but increasingly popular psychoactive pill. Teens
regard it as relatively safe, and it is easily available, according to the
2001 study by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America.

The survey found a rapid rise in the use of Ecstasy among teenagers, while
use of other drugs remained steady or fell among the age group of 12 to 18.

"The rapid rise in Ecstacy is strikingly similar to the country's
experience with cocaine" in the late 1970s and early 1980s, said Stephen J.
Pasierb, president of the anti-drug group. "New, disturbing data indicate
that in a short period of time, Ecstasy has secured a prominent place for
itself in the drug culture in America."

The organization's survey found that 12 percent of teens in the United
States report having tried Ecstacy in 2001, up from 10 percent the previous
year and the 5 percent who had tried the drug in 1995.

Chemically known as 3-4 methylenedioxmethamphetamine or MDMA, Ecstacy is a
synthetic, psychoactive drug with properties similar to amphetamines and
hallucinogens.

Distributed as different-colored pills, the drug is trafficked by Israeli
and Russian mobsters and mostly comes into the United States from the
Netherlands, Pasierb said. A pill costing about 50 cents to make can sell
for as much as $40 in a club.

The drug is addictive and can be deadly even in small doses, said Glen
Hanson, acting director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse. It affects
the levels of two brain chemicals --- serotonin and dopamine --- and might
have lifelong effects.

"The damage may be irreparable to the brains of young people," said John
Walters, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy.

Rating the risk is difficult, because much of the immediate danger depends
on pre-existing physical conditions, Hanson said. Among users with
cardiovascular defects or high blood pressure, for instance, Ecstasy would
be more dangerous than heroin, he said.

At a Washington news conference, Pasierb said the accelerated release of
the brain chemicals produces a pleasurable "high, often characterized by
feelings of love and acceptance."

These are "the very emotions teens crave the most," he said. Thus, Ecstasy
has been called the "hug drug" or the "love drug."

For several years, the drug has been popular at all-night dances and
concerts called raves. But it increasingly has entered the teenage
mainstream, the officials said.

"Ecstasy has spread beyond the club and rave scene and is increasingly
available to more children," Walters said.

The survey showed that about 2.8 million teenagers have used Ecstasy, and
nearly twice that many view the drug as less dangerous than cocaine,
heroin, LSD and amphetamines and only slightly more dangerous than alcohol,
tobacco or marijuana.

"Attitudes drive behavior," Pasierb said. "Large segments of the teen
market believe the 'hug drug' is a low-risk, high-benefit experience."

To counter this impression, often spread through Internet Web sites and
chat rooms, the organization unveiled a series of TV commercials. Several
of the ads feature the parents of Danielle Heird, a 21-year-old woman who
died two years ago in Las Vegas after taking the drug.

"She was a wonderful daughter," Jim Heird said during the news conference.
His daughter died the third time she took Ecstasy, and no other drugs were
found in her system. The fatal dose was two pills.

The survey of 6,937 teenagers found that drug use remained stable from 2000
to 2001 and was down since 1997 --- with the exception of Ecstasy.

Alcohol and marijuana remained the most popular drugs with teens. In the
survey, 53 percent of the respondents reported using alcohol in the past
year, down from 58 percent in 2000 and 63 percent in 1997. About 32 percent
of the teens said they had used marijuana in the past year, about the same
as in 2000. For tobacco, 28 percent said they had smoked cigarettes within
the previous 30 days, compared with 34 percent in the 2000 survey.

With inhalant abuse, 11 percent reported "sniffing or huffing" fumes within
the past year, compared to 13 percent in 2000. About 11 percent had used
methamphetamines in 2001, about the same as the previous year. Use of LSD
fell from 12 percent in 2000 to 10 percent in 2001. About 7 percent said
they had used cocaine in the past year, and 4 percent had tried heroin at
some time in their lives, about the same usage reported the previous year.

The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 1.8 percentage points.
The Partnership for a Drug-Free America is a private, nonprofit coalition
of professionals from the communications industry that produces advertising
campaigns to educate young Americans about the dangers of drug use.