CLUB-GOERS' NEW HIGH CAUSES ALARM

Side Effects Of 'hug Drug' Ecstasy Aren't So Warm And Fuzzy, Authorities Warn

Ecstasy, a synthetic "club drug" popular among young people for a high that
gives users intense energy while making everyone around them seem warm and
fuzzy, has exploded on the Milwaukee social scene.

Although recent studies have warned that the psychoactive stimulant and
hallucinogen is a neurotoxin that can cause permanent brain damage, young
people are downing the drug at parties, concerts and bars, naively
believing that it is harmless and legal, authorities said.

Law enforcement officials are bracing for the kind of epidemic use that has
hit other metropolitan areas over the past few years.

"It is not legal, and it is not safe," Milwaukee County District Attorney
E. Michael McCann said. "There is potential for serious, permanent brain
damage. We're very concerned, and we think we are getting only a fraction
of what is out there."

Further, although authorities had believed that the Ecstasy being consumed
here was coming from outside Wisconsin, an inquiry tied to the seizure of
40,000 tablets in New York has led investigators back here. Michael
Troster, a group supervisor with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration
in Milwaukee, said investigators suspect the 40,000 tablets were pressed here.

Meanwhile, Troster said, Ecstasy is easily obtained at Milwaukee-area clubs
and "raves" - hours-long, informally organized gatherings of young people.

Assistant District Attorney Jack Stoiber, who leads drug prosecutors in his
office, said, "The apparent influx of Ecstasy has to be both a public
health and a law enforcement concern."

In 1999, busts by the Milwaukee County Metropolitan Drug Enforcement Unit
netted just five Ecstasy tablets - total.

So far this year, prosecutors in the unit have put together seven cases in
which a total of 1,418 tablets were seized. Moreover, authorities say, the
suspects in some of those cases have admitted distributing thousands of
doses of the drug and having links to suppliers willing to pump large
quantities of Ecstasy into the area.

Circuit Court records indicate that one suspect arrested this summer had
more than 1,100 tablets in his bedroom and admitted distributing 3,000
doses in the previous two months.

Ecstasy goes by a variety of streets names. Authorities also call it MDMA,
short for its scientific name, methylenedioxymethamphetamine.

It was first synthesized in 1912 by a German firm, to be used as an
appetite suppressant.

In the 1970s, it was used on a limited basis to facilitate psychotherapy.

Illicit use of Ecstasy did not become popular until the late 1980s and
early '90s, according to the DEA. The drug now shows up at festivals,
nightclubs, concerts - pretty much anywhere young people are gathering.

It is manufactured primarily in clandestine laboratories in western Europe
in tablet, capsule or powder form, according to the DEA.

Ecstasy use is most prevalent among middle-to upper-class white youths,
Troster said.

He said it is popular at alcohol-free dances, where parents feel safe
sending their children.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the effects of Ecstasy
include increased energy and an enhanced sense of pleasure and
self-confidence. Some people call it the "hug drug," because it creates
feelings of peacefulness, acceptance and empathy.

"Users claim they experience feelings of closeness with others and a desire
to touch them," according to an institute report.

"Because of the hypersensitivity to external stimuli, the drug seems to be
popular in social settings where the users can maximize the effect,"
Stoiber said.

Ecstasy is also attractive to users because "it makes you very tactile,"
Troster said.

"It makes almost any kind of touch feel sexual," he said.

Stoiber and McCann said they are deeply worried about the risks users face,
both short-term and long-term. Since Ecstasy in effect short-circuits
body-temperature signals to the brain, energetic users risk heat stroke,
dehydration and hyperthermia.

The drug - which typically sells for $15 to $25 per tablet - is dangerous,
Troster said, because people under its influence do not realize how much
energy they are expending.

"They get so manic, they're bouncing all around, they're literally dancing
themselves to death," he said.

People using Ecstasy often carry water bottles to prevent heat stroke, he
said. Clubs take advantage of the demand for water and charge up to $5 a
bottle for it, he said.

Ecstasy users also may carry pacifiers, Troster said, to block another side
effect of the drug: teeth grinding or clenching.

Statistics on overdoses and side effects linked to Ecstasy in the Milwaukee
area were not available.

The drug's long-term effects include brain damage. Even recreational users
risk permanent brain damage that may lead to depression, anxiety, memory
loss and learning difficulties, according to the National Institute of
Mental Health.

"We're talking about serious brain damage," McCann said. "That's why we're
recommending prison for the traffickers."

The first person prosecuted in the area on charges of distributing the drug
was arrested in January 1999 after a wired Marquette University student
wound up in an emergency room. Thomas R. Bausano, now 20, got three years'
probation, a nine-month jail term and a $500 fine.

Four months later, distributor Mark E. Kraemer, 21, told investigators that
"half of the club scene likes E," according to a criminal complaint.
Kraemer got three years' probation, four months in jail and a $1,000 fine
for selling an undercover officer a single tablet.

When Luis A. Ruiz was arrested in a February traffic stop on S. Layton
Blvd., he told police the 148 tablets of Ecstasy they found in his car were
no big deal.

"That's a club drug, Ecstasy," Ruiz told police, a criminal complaint says.
"It's not illegal."

Ruiz got three years' probation, nine months in jail and a $300 fine.

William Randall Krahn, 27, of the 600 block of E. Conway St., will be
sentenced next month after pleading guilty to selling 100 Ecstasy pills to
an undercover police officer for $1,900. Andrew Michael Cannon, 21, of
Mukwonago is scheduled to stand trial this week after authorities said they
found 27 Ecstasy tablets in his trunk during a traffic stop.

An area man still under investigation was arrested this summer and admitted
having paid a total of $20,000 to make two out-of-state purchases of 1,500
tablets each of Ecstasy, which he brought back to Milwaukee, court records
show.

And in another sign that there is a vibrant market for Ecstasy, Jonathan
William Talatzko, 21, of South Milwaukee was charged with trying to sell
sleeping pills outside a convenience store, claiming they were Ecstasy. His
case is pending.

U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee,
plans to meet next month with Drug Enforcement Administration chief Donnie
Marshall to discuss growing problems with drugs such as Ecstasy, according
to Lynn Becker, Kohl's communications director. Kohl has been seeking more
DEA agents for Wisconsin.

Kohl's committee also is expected to review legislation on Ecstasy trafficking.

"I suspect that as awareness of it grows and police become concerned about
it, we will see a substantial increase in the number of cases brought to
our office," McCann said.