DEA PLACING 'PRIORITY' ON CURBING ECSTASY USE

In the wake of recent deaths involving a party drug, the Chicago
bureau of the Drug Enforcement Administration invited its foremost
expert on designer drugs to speak Thursday to more than 100 police
officers, educators and journalists.

Meanwhile, in Naperville, the police department was conducting its own
seminar on synthetic drugs for law enforcement officers only.

"Nothing has a higher priority in this office simply because of what
has happened in our western suburbs," said Don Sturn, special agent in
charge of the Chicago DEA office.

Dr. David Gavin, the DEA's resident authority of designer drugs, spoke
mainly about ecstasy use. He briefly discussed PMA
(paramethoxyamphetamine), the drug that killed Naperville teen-ager
Sara Aeschlimann and a McHenry County youth. Officials also fear it
might be responsible for the death of 20-year-old Jason Burnett of
Lisle.

Burnett died at Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove at 2:30 p.m.
Saturday after paramedics tried to revive him at a residence on the
1000 block of Rolling Drive.

Police are waiting for toxicology tests to confirm whether he died
from an overdose of PMA.

In Aeschlimann's case, Gauvin suggested the girl died as a result of
hyperthermia. PMA causes the body to increase temperature because of
an initial drop. However, the body forgets to shut off its internal
heater. Because Aeschlimann apparently ingested six or seven pills,
the doctor said the increase in body temperature was even more likely,
which probably caused a number of internal organ problems or failures.

"Hyperthermia is what's killing them," Gauvin said. "You can't live
long with a 110-degree temperature."

Gauvin said there was a reason why the drugs are called
designer.

"Drug dealers say, 'We can design a drug that law enforcement can't
touch us for,'" he said.

Most of the party drugs are a different version of the same
amphetamine-based chemical combination. Ecstasy has become the most
popular.

Ecstasy has also become a larger target for DEA agents. In 1998, the
DEA confiscated less than 500,000 hits of ecstasy in pill form. In
1999, the agency reported 4.5 million seizures, Gauvin said.

"If we're seizing that much, you can only imagine how much is out
there we're missing," he said.

Gauvin said research has shown prolonged use of the drug damages brain
cells permanently. The other danger of ecstasy use is the instability
of its lethal level. Overdose victims have been brought to hospitals
with as little as 1.26 milligrams per liter of ecstasy in their blood
and died, while others had 44 milligrams per liter and walked out of
the emergency room later in the evening, he said.

While the DEA was putting on its seminar, Naperville police were also
holding a similar function.

Although the two programs were being held simultaneously, officers and
agents from both organizations were attending each other's events.

Sgt. Ray McGury, the lead investigator in Aeschlimann's case, said
more than 125 officers from all over the state were attending the
Naperville summit.

"We hope this can open the channels of communication among the
different agencies," McGury said. "Sometimes in this field
communication isn't the greatest."