BILL TO STIFFEN PRISON TERMS FOR 'CLUB DRUG' GAINS MOMENTUM

A bill that would increase the criminal penalties for making or
selling the increasingly popular "club drug" Ecstasy to those for
heroin and cocaine was approved by two legislative committees Thursday.

The measure would make it a first-degree crime, punishable by up to 20
years in prison, to manufacture, distribute, or dispense the drug, or
to possess 5 ounces of the hallucinogen with the intent to distribute
it. The bill was released from both the Assembly Law and Public Safety
Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee, and is scheduled for a
vote in the full Senate on Monday.

"The swift movement of the bill through committees in both houses of
the Legislature puts New Jersey on its way to being able to give law
enforcement the tools it needs to prevent an explosion in the use of
this drug," said Governor Whitman, who proposed the bill last week.

Under the legislation, defendants could face charges of the first,
second, or third degree, depending on the number of pills they have.
The sentences range from five years in prison for possessing up to a
half-ounce, or 50 pills, to 20 years for intending to sell up to 5
ounces, or 500 pills.

Lawmakers said the bill was placed on the legislative fast track
because law enforcement officers are seeing more instances of
teenagers and college students purchasing Ecstasy, also known as MDMA,
at nightclubs and all-night dance parties, known as raves.

In the past year, an Ocean County teen died after repeated use of the
drug and several teenagers were hospitalized in critical condition
after using Ecstasy at a rave in Morris County.

"Although Ecstasy has become frighteningly popular in such a short
time span, law enforcement officials think the worst could be ahead of
us if we don't act immediately," said Assembly Majority Leader Paul
DiGaetano, R-Nutley, a bill sponsor. "Ecstasy is a stimulant and a
hallucinogen, is readily accessible and relatively inexpensive. With a
deadly combination like that, we can't afford to wait until the
situation becomes a crisis."

Prosecutors had requested a change in the law after recent grand jury
indictments revealed a flaw in the sentencing structure between the
user and the seller. Under current law, a defendant caught with one
pill or 1,000 pills can be charged only with a third-degree crime,
which does not guarantee prison time.