JUST SAY 'IS IT OK?'

Non-Profit DanceSafe Promotes 'Harm Reduction' Approach To Drugs

LODOGA -- It is a dark night by the shores of the East Park Reservoir in
the Sacramento Valley and Mike Town is shopping for drugs, specifically an
illegal compound known as "E" or "ecstasy."

Wary of fake tablets that could be poisonous, the 21-year-old college
student attending a weekend-long outdoor party here has brought along a
computer printout with the laboratory analysis of E samples purchased from
dealers around the country.

The lab results were provided on the Internet courtesy of a controversial
Oakland-based non-profit group: DanceSafe. Declaring the conventional war
on drugs ineffective, DanceSafe provides chemical testing as well as health
and safety information to users of ecstasy and other recreational drugs --
in the interest of what it calls "harm reduction." But critics say
DanceSafe's unconventional grass-roots activities end up promoting drug use.

A chemical compound whose scientific name is 3-4
methylenedioxymethamphetamine, or MDMA, the so-called "hug drug" is
increasingly popular among mainstream partyers who value its mood-enhancing
and energy-boosting properties.

In the same way that some shoppers like to check out Consumer Reports
before buying a car or a blender, some ecstasy users like to research the
quality of the synthetic substance before purchasing. "If a guy told me he
had some, I could just look at the sheet and make sure it was good," Town said.

Emanuel Sferios, the Ralph Nader of the rave scene, founded DanceSafe last
year. A 30-year-old former social worker, he was concerned about a lack of
accurate information about ecstasy and other club drugs.

Funded by dot-commers who grew up attending raves, DanceSafe trains
volunteers to be peer educators. It sends them to raves, or all-night
underground parties, to test E in all forms -- including tablets, pills and
powder -- for potentially harmful substitute substances. Volunteers also
counsel users about possible neurotoxic effects of E and other party drugs.

"The 'just say no' message is just not credible," said Bob Wallace, one of
the group's patrons who was an early Microsoft Corp. employee and is now a
semi-retired publisher and philanthropist in Sebastopol.

Though its use nationwide is still dwarfed by drugs like marijuana or
cocaine, government statistics show E is becoming increasingly prevalent.
According to 1998 data from the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse,
1.4 million adults between the ages of 18 and 25 have tried E at least
once, an increase of 47 percent from 1995.

"Rolling" or tripping on ecstasy, is also becoming more common among high
school students. The University of Michigan's "Monitoring the Future'"
surveys for 1999 found that 4.4 percent of 10th graders had experimented
with the drug in the past 12 months -- a 30 percent increase from the prior
year, and 5.6 percent of 12th graders had -- a 56 percent increase.

Risks Of Ecstasy

Scientific studies suggest that ecstasy may lead to memory loss and other
cognitive impairments. Banned by the U.S. government in 1985, ecstasy can
also sometimes lead to mental confusion and depression. The biggest risk,
however, is heat stroke or dehydration, particularly if the user is engaged
in vigorous aerobic activities like dancing.

According to DanceSafe, at least 100 ravers have died from overheating.

DanceSafe emphasizes the dangers of ecstasy and other designer drugs in
conversations with users, on its Web site and on glossy, pocket-size cards
that are partially paid for by the San Francisco Department of Public Health.

But unlike other anti-drug groups, DanceSafe doesn't urge users to stop
partying. Instead, it encourages its audience to draw its own conclusions
- -- an approach it calls "harm reduction" that is also practiced in European
countries.

"People trust us because we offer information on drugs from a
non-judgmental perspective," Sferios said.

DanceSafe now has nine official chapters in cities around the nation. Its
Web site gets 6,000 visitors a day, and some 200 fans have sent e-mail
saying they are cutting down on their use of E. "I think that is a
tremendous victory," Sferios boasts.

But critics complain the group's position is easy to misinterpret. "It's
very difficult to talk about the safe use of drugs without saying that it's
OK implicitly," says Charlie Parsons, the executive director of D.A.R.E.
America.

"It sends the wrong message to a very vulnerable age group," said Sen.
Charles Grassley. The Iowa Republican is a sponsor of a bill that would
stiffen the penalties for trafficking in ecstasy. It would also expand
"ecstasy abuse prevention" efforts, though not through drug testing.

Supporters of DanceSafe's drug testing programs -- who include some local
police officers and the San Francisco Department of Public Health -- say it
is a valuable service.

Only about a third of the pills that are marketed as ecstasy actually
contain MDMA. With single pills selling for $35, the temptation to peddle
fakes is high. Counterfeit concoctions can contain everything from harmless
placebos to insidious psychedelics like PMA (paramethoxyamphetamine).

Earlier this year, three Chicago-area teenagers died after taking PMA that
they thought was ecstasy. Last October, eight people at an Oakland rave
were hospitalized after taking ecstasy pills that contained dextromethorphan.

Testing E

Hoping to prevent further casualties, Brooke Owyang, a 19-year-old student
at University of California-Berkeley, has set up a DanceSafe testing table
at the Sacramento Valley rave. It is inside a booth adorned with
informational posters.

A male raver with bleached blond hair, wearing bracelets of colored plastic
beads, gives Brooke a tablet to test. She measures it carefully with a
caliper, scrapes off a tiny sample and hands it back.

A drop of a chemical called "marquis reagent" (basically a combination of
sulfuric acid and formaldehyde) causes the powder to immediately turn a
dark purplish black, revealing the presence of MDMA.

"Can you tell me if it's really weak or really strong?" the raver asks as
techno music thumps in the background.

Brooke shakes her head. The test provides limited information, identifying
only MDMA and three other substances. Generally, tablets that test positive
for ecstasy are not adulterated with other chemicals, but DanceSafe
volunteers don't want to encourage users, so they always remind them that
they are running unknown risks.

DanceSafe says local police, who are sometimes hired as security guards at
raves, have promised not to arrest people who approach the DanceSafe booth.

Local departments in Oakland, San Francisco and San Jose claimed not to be
familiar with DanceSafe and said no official agreements existed.

Still, San Francisco Police Inspector Sherman Ackerson described testing as
a "good idea," adding that San Francisco officers are advised to use
discretion. "We don't approve of drugs," he said. But "the No. 1 issue is
people's safety."

For ravers crowding Brooke Owyang's outdoor table, however, the No. 1 issue
seems to be quality. Brooke tells people who press for more detailed
chemical information that they can send a pill or tablet to a laboratory in
Sacramento that is licensed by the DEA to receive controlled substances
from anonymous people. DanceSafe pays for the analysis and posts test
results, along with a photograph and other identifying details on its Web site.

A spokesman for the DEA in San Francisco said the lab does not provide
information on the relative strength of different pills and tablets, only
on their composition. "They are testing to see if there are any poisons,"
Joycelyn Barnes said.

Still, DanceSafe's supporters say a little information is better than none
at all. "If Emanuel (Sferios) could set up a booth and tell you how many
milligrams you were getting, that would be fantastic," said Ray Greenwell,
a software programmer who has donated $25,000 to DanceSafe. "You would be
in control."

Paul Phillips, the original chief technical officer at Go2Net Inc., a
Seattle-based Internet company, likewise supports the dissemination of
accurate drug-related information. He became DanceSafe's first benefactor
when he ran into Sferios at a DanceSafe booth at a rave last August. "This
is sane," he explained. "The war on drugs is insane."