ECSTASY DRUG A MENACE TO AMERICANS

How bad is the Ecstasy threat to Americans? Very bad, indeed.

From a somewhat subdued introduction less than five years ago, the illicit
drug has become an enormous problem.

The present proportions of the threat were made clear when the U.S. Customs
Service, after a 12-month investigation, cracked an international smuggling
ring that agents claim brought into this country an estimated 9 million
tablets of the hallucinogenic drug Ecstasy.

And that's just one ring.

Customs agents said the ring, headed by an Israeli emigre who operated in
Los Angeles, New York and Europe, had connections to every major U.S. city.

The investigation, called "Operation Paris Express," initially resulted in
U.S. Customs, the Drug Enforcement Administration and French authorities
seizing nearly 650,000 tables of Ecstasy. Those tablets are estimated to
have a retail value of $19.5 million.

Three BMW cars, two handguns and more than $170,000 in U.S. currency also
were seized during the operation.

The 9 million tablets the organization is estimated to have smuggled into
the United States represents the largest Ecstasy trafficking syndicate that
Customs has dismantled to date.

The case began in July 1999 when Customs inspectors in Los Angeles
intercepted three women arriving from Paris with a total of 140,000 Ecstasy
pills in boxes of toys and false compartments of their luggage, Customs
said.

A 23-count indictment that was issued by a federal grand jury in California
said the ring employed 30 to 50 couriers who posed as tourists or business
executives. The couriers allegedly received $10,000 to $15,000 plus free
vacations in France for smuggling the pills in false-bottomed suitcases,
Customs agents said.

Customs has been beefing up its enforcement in this area as record amounts
of Ecstasy flow into the United States. Since Oct. 1 of last year, Customs
has seized nearly 6 million doses of Ecstasy. For all of fiscal year 1999,
it seized 3.5 million doses.

Ecstasy is chemically known as MDMA, or Methylenedioxymethy-lamphetamine.
Users normally experience feelings of euphoria and an increased desire to
interact socially. Blood pressure, heart rate and body temperature increase
dramatically.

The drug is popular at all-night dance parties called "raves," but the huge
amounts of the drug confiscated make it obvious that it's not restricted to
dances.

The dismal fact is that Ecstasy usage has become a national threat.

It makes people -- especially women -- do things they would not otherwise
do. And the consequences are terribly destructive.

It also paves the way for usage of even harder drugs - and that path is not
only destructive, it's deadly.

The first line of defense has to be the people who are tempted to use it.
Another line is made up of parents and friends of those who may be tempted.

Whatever it takes, preventing the use of Ecstasy is worth it.