ECSTASY USE EXPANDS BEYOND CLUBS; STIFFER SENTENCES ORDERED

WASHINGTON--Ecstasy, a drug once used primarily at nightclubs, has expanded
beyond the club scene and is being sold at high schools, on the street and
even at coffee shops in some cities, the White House drug policy office
said Wednesday.

The availability of ecstasy has increased dramatically, and more blacks and
Latinos are using the drug, the agency said in its biannual report that
chronicles trends in drug use.

In response, the U.S. Sentencing Commission has increased penalties for
those peddling large quantities of the drug, which sells for $10 to $45 per
pill on the street.

Under temporary new guidelines, which federal judges must follow starting
May 1, people the commission would consider local distributors--selling 800
pills or more--would be sentenced to more than six years in jail. That's
triple the time they would have gotten under previous guidelines.

Defense lawyers said the change makes ecstasy, on a per-dose basis, five
times more serious to possess or sell than heroin and is excessive for a
drug that is neither as harmful nor as addictive as heroin or cocaine. Some
medical researchers also opposed the new guidelines.

"This is a wholly political act, not one based on scientific evidence,"
said Edward Mallett, president of the National Assn. of Criminal Defense
Lawyers.

But the chairwoman of the commission told senators Wednesday at a hearing
on narcotics that ecstasy has serious and possibly long-term harmful affects.

"We have learned that ecstasy has unique pharmacological effects,
physiological risks, user profiles, collateral consequences and trafficking
patterns that make comparing ecstasy to other drugs of abuse very
difficult," Diana Murphy, commission chairwoman, told the Senate Caucus on
International Narcotics Control.

Ecstasy's chemical name is methylenedioxymethylamphetamine, or MDMA. A user
usually experiences feelings of euphoria and increased desire to interact
socially. Blood pressure, heart rate and body temperature increase
dramatically.

While overall teenage drug use has either fallen or stayed level in recent
years, ecstasy use has climbed. The White House report, presented at the
hearing, showed that more than 80% of officials surveyed in 20 cities said
ecstasy was more available than ever.

Nightclubs and dance parties known as "raves" are the most common venue for
using ecstasy, but law enforcement officials, epidemiologists and drug
treatment providers reported that the drug also was being sold at private
parties, college campuses, high schools and on the street.

In New York, officials reported sales of ecstasy and other "club drugs" in
shopping malls. In Washington, ecstasy was being sold in coffee shops, the
report said.

"Use is no longer confined to the rave scene," said Dr. Donald Vereen,
deputy director of the drug policy office.

The guidelines will be effective for six months. The commission, an
independent federal agency that sets national sentencing policy, can submit
a permanent rule to Congress in May.