A CRISIS DENIED

DEATHS, DRUG-overdose medical emergencies, addiction, rape and impaired
driving are daily reminders that problems associated with the so-called
"rave and club street drugs" are entrenched across Florida and sweeping the
globe.

Just in the past week, two new chemicals have been added to the lists of
potentially deadly drugs sold and abused in these settings. Both PMA
(paramethoxy-amphetamine) and 4-MTA (4-methylamphetamine) have been sold as
"XTC" and have caused deaths in the United States and Europe among ravers
and club drugies.

They were seeking "flatliners" and "double-stack mitsubishis." What they got
were funerals.

I regret the focus of my lengthy interview was not the focus of the article
in which I was quoted. Although it is important to get a better grasp of the
nature and extent of the harm caused by these drugs, our thanks should go to
Gov. Jeb Bush and Director Jim McDonough for their international leadership
in identifying and addressing this contemporary drug crisis denied too long
by too many.

Florida is at the forefront of the rave-drug and drug-rape problems. Thanks
to their leadership, Florida has been among the first to identify these
public-health emergencies and, more important, among the first to do
something about it. That's the front-page story.