PARENTS, KIDS GET SCARY TASTE OF DRUG SCENE

Visiting Expert Warns Families, Professionals About 'Trendy' Narcotics At
Rave Parties

Sitting near the front of a sparsely filled room Tuesday night, John and
Sandy Poleretzky had their children, Derek, 13, and Kristina, 11, between
them for a free seminar about rave parties and trendy drugs.

"It was worth the time," said Sandy Poleretzky. "This is one of the
scariest things I've ever seen."

The New Market couple attended the seminar in the Bevill Center at the
University of Alabama in Huntsville because they want their son to know
what he might face when he gets to high school. Their daughter is not far
behind, either.

Derek said he had heard about Ecstasy but would never try it. He hadn't
heard so much about Gamma Hydroxy Butyrate - GHB - and LSD and Ketamine,
commonly referred to as trendy or club drugs.

He and his sister saw a videotape shot at a Los Angeles rave party full of
kids high on party drugs. The video shows kids using drugs and passing out
for 10 to 15 seconds.

"I couldn't believe it when they just fell asleep," Kristina said.

The Poleretzkys were glad Kristina got to see firsthand the potential
dangers she faces as a girl because many of the club drugs talked about are
often used as date rape drugs.

Trinka Porrata, the speaker at Tuesday night's program, is an expert on the
drugs. Porrata is retired as a detective with the Los Angeles Police
Department. She'd been with the department 25 years, eight in the Narcotics
Division.

She also led a training seminar Tuesday morning for area law enforcement
officers, educators and medical personnel. The event was sponsored by Drugs
Offer No Tomorrow, a nonprofit group, and Madison County Schools and
Huntsville Elks Lodge 1648.

The seminar for parents and the public Tuesday night drew about 25 people.
The sparse crowd didn't surprise Porrata. She said parents are often the
hardest group to get to listen.

Parents usually think rave parties are great, because the sponsors promote
them as alcohol-free dance parties. There may not be alcohol, but there
will be some form of drug there, Porrata said.

For example, she said, Ecstasy is a drug for lonely people.

"It's the equalizer," she said. "At raves there are no cliques. There are
no weirdos. Everyone is accepted."

The seminar "helps us do our jobs as parents," said John Poleretzky. "And
now we know more about what to look for," his wife added.

Donna Lackey agreed. She's a physician's assistant and an emergency medical
technician in rural Madison County. She drove from Meridianville with her
12-year-old daughter, Heather, to attend the seminar.

Lackey said she was shocked to learn how little the medical profession
knows about treating GHB overdoses and those addicted to the drugs.

Porrata said she knows of at least 219 deaths from GHB in the last two
years. A few have been in the Huntsville area.

Heather said she'd heard about Ecstasy but not the other drugs mentioned at
the seminar.

"Kids need to know what to look for," Lackey said. "We tell our kids not to
take other people's pills. But I never thought to tell them not to take
candy or breath mint from them."

Lackey also said she was shocked to learn that Ecstasy is often hidden on
candy necklaces or inside candy, and that GHB is often camouflaged in any
type of bottle ranging from eye droppers and breath fresheners to those
that usually hold hair spray, water or sports drinks.

"I'm glad I came," Lackey said. "I've been sitting here wishing I had
brought my other daughter, who has two young children, and all of my
neighbors."