USE OF ECSTASY, DRUG FAVORED BY YOUTH, ON RISE IN TWIN CITIES

Ecstasy.

A girl washes down an Ecstasy pill. A baby's pacifier, which she'll use
later, hangs from a shoestring around her neck.

She heads toward the dance floor, where she and other dancers twirl light
tubes. Green. Yellow. Blue. Red. Colors flash across the ceiling. The disc
jockeys spin music.

Ecstasy.

A boy rocks on a bleacher seat, moving to the thumping beat. He's rubbing a
friend's back: up, down. He squeezes his friend's arms and shoulders.

The friend is bent over, his arms moving in circles. He wears a white dust
mask.

These scenes at a South St. Paul rave -- a large dance party -- were all
about Ecstasy, a feel-happy drug that is becoming the party drug of choice
in the Twin Cities.

It's easily bought, but it's a crime to possess. It can be addictive and
cause brain and liver damage. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
mentions it in the same breath as heroin and marijuana. Its use is on the
rise in the Twin Cities. Law enforcers say they have seized more of it in
recent months than ever.

This month, a bill called the Ecstasy Anti-Proliferation Act of 2000 was
introduced in Congress to impose stricter prison sentences for
Ecstasy-related offenses.

Minneapolis city chemist Bruce Persons, whose office does tests for
Hennepin, Dakota and Anoka counties, said that from January to April it
processed 559 pills that contained 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA),
the active ingredient in Ecstasy.

St. Paul reports a similar situation.

"It certainly feels like we've been seeing a lot more lately," said Matt
Heinsch, a criminologist at the St. Paul Police Department crime lab, which
tests suspected drugs for St. Paul and some east metro suburbs. The St. Paul
crime lab reported that in 1997, it looked at two cases involving 6.9 grams
of MDMA. None was reported in 1998. Last year, the lab looked at three cases
with 2.9 grams of MDMA. But since January, the lab already has looked at
eight cases involving 2,500 grams.

'Extremely Dangerous'

According to the Minnesota U.S. attorney's office, most of the Ecstasy here
comes from Europe and California. About 320 kinds of the "hug drug" are
easily found in the Twin Cities area, said detective Chad Duckson of the
Anoka-Hennepin Narcotics and Violent Crimes Task Force.

State and local law enforcement offices confiscated 25,000 to 30,000 dosages
in Minnesota in the past six months, the DEA said. Acting resident agent
Durell Hope said users, primarily teens and young adults, don't think it's
harmful or addictive.

"They don't see any direct side effects, so they think it's OK to use," Hope
said. "With an illegal drug, you don't know the strength you're going to
get. It's extremely dangerous."

One-third of the pill is pure MDMA, which ranges from 75 to 125 milligrams
per tablet. One kilogram of pure MDMA powder can produce 10,000 tablets if
the tablet or dosage unit contains the average 100 milligrams of MDMA. It
costs pennies to make one pill, which sells for $20 to $30.

Officer Dave Brennan of the Washington County Narcotics Unit said Ecstasy is
popular because it's easy to take and conceal. It's odorless and doesn't
cause the hangovers associated with alcohol, he said. "It's not very scary
for a kid to take a pill," he said. "They're always looking for a way to get
high without getting caught. It's perfect for the high schoolers."

Its use has been discussed at monthly substance-abuse meetings in Twin
Cities school districts. "Do we have kids here using Ecstasy? Yes, we do,"
said Judy Hanson, chemical health coordinator for Wayzata schools. "There's
a wide range of kids who use it, but it's primarily seniors, and I think
it's primarily females."

She said students are aware of Ecstasy but not of its consequences.

"They don't understand why we make such a big deal out of it," she said.
"One of the things that kids don't understand about Ecstasy is the
possibilities of brain damage. They have no clue of that, nor will they
believe it, because there are some kids who for a time when they're using
[drugs] can still get good grades in school."

800 Percent Increase

The DEA said that Ecstasy isn't as widespread as other drugs but that its
usage nationwide increased 800 percent over a five-year period in the 1990s.
In May, U.S. Customs agents intercepted 490,000 tablets at San Francisco
International Airport from a passenger flight from Paris.

Carol Falkowski, director of research and communications at the Hazelden
Foundation in Plymouth, said Ecstasy use has increased in tandem with the
rave culture among teens and young adults. Raves are clandestine all-night
parties that feature underground electronic music. Andrew Dunne, assistant
U.S. attorney in Minnesota, said most of the Ecstasy that his office deals
with has come through U.S. Customs and the Postal Service.

So far, the U.S. attorney's office has worked on six cases. One involved
19,000 pills totaling 4.7 kilograms that were sent from Amsterdam, the
Netherlands. That shipment, confiscated in November, was the largest amount
ever intercepted in Minnesota, Dunne said.

This year, the largest county seizure occurred April 6 when the
Anoka-Hennepin drug task force confiscated a package containing 1,000 pills.

'It Was Great'

Ecstasy is both a stimulant and a hallucinogen. The long-term effects of the
drug are still being debated, but Dr. Andrew Topliff of the Hennepin
Regional Poison Center said the drug lessens fatigue, allowing people to
dance for hours. It also suppresses appetite.

"Anytime you use something for a long period of time, it can become
addictive if you use it enough," he said. "It is addictive, but not as
addictive as other drugs" such as cocaine and heroin.

Ecstasy increases the heart rate, and if used with other stimulants can
cause hypertension, seizures and unusual heart rhythm, Topliff said.
Continued use can result in paranoia, depression and mood swings. That
doesn't bother a 19-year-old Burnsville resident who said he was a sober
raver until he tried Ecstasy. Now he takes the drug every weekend.

"A lot of my friends took it, and they loved it," he said. "So I thought I
might as well take it. Amazing. It was great."

One raver in South St. Paul described being on Ecstasy as "rolling," because
a person usually rolls into the high, which lasts anywhere from two to six
hours.

But not everyone gets the roll.

A 21-year-old Columbia Heights man said he initially thought he was cheated
after taking the drug because nothing happened. He had paid $30 for the pill
at the rave. But half an hour later the high kicked in. "I started feeling
the music," he said. "Then you just want to go up to anyone and give them a
big hug. It's like people were meant to be this way. Everyone is just happy
together. Everybody should do this." It was his first time on Ecstasy.

"It just feels really good," said the Burnsville 19-year-old. "In
Minneapolis, everybody seems to get along and that's because everyone takes
rolls. It's like a big get-together."

People who are rolling often use either a pacifier or dust face mask, or
both. The pacifier stops users from grinding their teeth, a side effect of
Ecstasy. And people usually wear face masks rubbed with Vicks VapoRub
because it tingles, heightening the sensation.

Catching people who use Ecstasy isn't easy, though. Prosecutor Gail Baez,
who leads the drug unit of the Hennepin County attorney's office, said that
people can't be prosecuted solely on the basis of what's in their blood.

There has to be other evidence, Baez said, such as a confession, behavior
consistent with its use or possession of more of it.

In Minnesota, anyone caught selling 200 or more pills or possessing 500 or
more pills would be charged with a first-degree felony, she said. That could
result in a 86-month prison sentence if there is no prior record, Baez said.

Woody McBride of St. Paul plays music at raves, where he is known in music
circles as DJ ESP. In recent years, he said, police and government have
pushed raves into conventional venues because young people can't control
themselves. Drugs have become more important. At the first raves in the late
1980s, people went to listen to the music and find spiritual direction.

"I enjoy life on its own terms," he said. "I don't let anyone who doesn't
hold those values into my inner circle.

"Thank God for police officers. They care enough to do something for those
who don't care enough about themselves."