CONGRESS INVESTIGATES ECSTASY

As scientists warn about the dangers of ecstasy, Congress is trying to do
something about the drug's rising use among young people.

DONNA KELLEY, CNN ANCHOR: As we were telling you, the story about ecstasy.
There are warnings from scientists about the danger of that drug and
Congress trying to do something about the drug's rising use among young
people. Here's a live picture and there's the chairman, in fact, Senator
Joe Lieberman of the Governmental Affairs Committee. And hearings are under
way right now on Capitol Hill.

We want to get the latest for you on today's hearings from our Eileen
O'Connor. She is in Washington -- Eileen.

EILEEN O'CONNOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Donna, Senator Lieberman says he
called these hearings in order to find out more about the growing use of
the drug ecstasy, the so-called "hug drug," ecstasy, among teenagers and
young professionals. He says he wants to see what government possibly
could do to stem this increase.

He's going to be hearing from a variety of experts, from local law
enforcement agency experts, from the Drug Enforcement Administration and
also from a scientist from the National Institute On Drug Abuse.

But first and foremost, he's going to be hearing from some teens
themselves, and one teen in particular about her firsthand experience.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA MOORE, ECSTASY USER: I didn't care about anything but doing
ecstasy. I didn't want to wake up in the morning unless I knew I had a
pill waiting there next to me to take.

O'CONNOR (voice-over): That's what Dana Moore is going to tell Congress
about the increasingly popular drug ecstasy. This 16-year- old is
currently in a year long residential treatment program.

DR. ALAN LESHNER, NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE: This is your brain on
ecstasy.

O'CONNOR (on camera): So I see a lot less yellow down here. What's that mean?

LESHNER: This is telling you that three weeks after the, this individual's
last use of ecstasy, they have a significant decrease in the brain's
ability to use this important chemical called serotonin that's involved in
mood, in cognitive function, in pain and sleep.

O'CONNOR (voice-over): Dr. Alan Leshner says new government sponsored
studies show long lasting effects on memory and mood.

DR. CHARLES GROB, HARBOR-UCLA MEDICAL CENTER: Clearly the case is not
closed on to what degree MDMA affects the brain.

O'CONNOR: Dr. Charles Grob says safety tests that he's done on MDMA, or
ecstasy, show it isn't necessarily harmful. Still, Grob says children
should not take it.

TIM SANTAMOUR, DANCESAFE: One of the most compelling arguments you can make
to young people is to alert them to the rampant and rising degree of drug
substitution.

O'CONNOR: That, says a group called DanceSafe, is why they test ecstasy
pills teens have bought at raves to see if they are pure, here, training on
an over the counter cold remedy.

UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: It's less harmful than a lot of legal substances that
are out there, especially if it's used in therapeutic settings or in
recreational settings where people know what they have taken.

O'CONNOR: But Leshner says the notion that the drug is safe is driving up use.

LESHNER: The myth is that even pure ecstasy is fine and the truth is even
pure ecstasy is not fine. We've known for over a decade that this is a
neurotoxic substance. It destroys brain cells.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

O'CONNOR: Now, there are some scientists who say that that doesn't
necessarily still mean that there's long term lasting effects on the brain.
Still, Congress wants to determine what to do about its growing use among
teenagers, perhaps looking into some kind of educational programs for
children and for parents -- Donna.

KELLEY: Eileen O'Connor, thanks very much.