ECSTASY CITED IN 5 AREA DEATHS

Once `Club Drug' Is Now In Mainstream

The use of the drug ecstasy in the Twin Cities continues to increase, with
five metro-area deaths attributed to the ``club drug'' this year, according
to a Hazelden report to be released today.

The upward trend in ecstasy use mirrors what is happening across the
nation, as what have been traditionally ``club drugs'' move into the
mainstream. The Hennepin Regional Poison Center received 42 ecstasy-related
calls from January to mid-November, according to the Hazelden report
compiled every six months by Carol Falkowski.

Falkowski recently attended a conference in San Francisco, where
researchers from across the country reported that so-called ``designer
drugs'' are still largely restricted to clubs and ``rave'' parties. The use
of these drugs -- including LSD, GHB and GBL -- is far more widespread in
the Twin Cities, she said. Four people died after overdosing on ecstasy,
the drug was listed as a contributing factor in a homicide and an Apple
Valley teen-ager under the influence of LSD was shot and wounded by police.

A growing number of people of color are also trying ecstasy -- a trend
reflected in both nationwide and local statistics. Until recently,
researchers described ecstasy as a drug used primarily by white suburban
youths. Recently, black-themed magazines such as ``Vibe'' have published
articles on ecstasy and references to the drug have cropped up in some of
the latest rap lyrics. The deaths in Hennepin County of two black men, each
in his 20s, were attributed to ecstasy.

Six months ago, Falkowski's report focused on heroin's unseating of cocaine
as the deadliest drug in the Twin Cities. Heroin remains cheaper and purer
than ever in Hennepin County, although fatal overdoses in Ramsey County
fell from 20 in 1999 to 11 during the first nine months of this year. There
were 36 opiate-related deaths in Hennepin County, compared to 27 in 1999.

``Heroin seems to be happening in Minneapolis,'' Falkowski said. ``We
aren't really seeing that in Ramsey County. We're seeing things we've never
seen before in Minneapolis.''

Methamphetamine has retained a large Twin Cities presence, with a total of
eight deaths attributed to the drug in Ramsey, Dakota and Hennepin
counties. Statewide, 119 meth labs were dismantled by the Drug Enforcement
Administration, up from 109 in 1999 and 46 in 1998.

This is the 30th report Falkowski has completed for the Hazelden
Foundation, a nonprofit agency based in Center City that studies
alcoholism, drug addiction and related diseases.