ECSTASY STUDY HOLDS FEW SURPRISES DRUG CALLED A RISK TO USER'S MEMORY

San Francisco - A new study from Germany seems to confirm what some
San Francisco partygoers have known for years: The drug Ecstasy makes
you stupid.

Priced at $15 to $25 per pill, ``E'' or ``X'' is legendary for its
touchy-feely effects and its ability to break down social
inhibitions.

But there's a definite downside.

``If you do it for a while, you get all cracked out,'' said Krista, a
19- year-old user in San Francisco. ``Your speech gets mumbly and your
concentration is off. It gets to the point where you can't talk.''

A recently published study from the University of Aachen says that
even light recreational use of Ecstasy can lead to impaired
intelligence and reduced memory capacity.

Researchers compared intelligence tests from a group of 28 regular
Ecstasy users to a drug-free control group and reported that Ecstasy
users fared comparatively poorly in written tests of attention, memory
and learning ability.

Knowing of the malign effects of the drug, however, has not seemed to
cut the demand for the party drug, which in recent years has become
widely available in the Bay Area.

Ecstasy is relatively easy to buy in any number of established South
of Market dance clubs, said Sgt. John Murphy of the San Francisco
Police Department. He believes that the drug has tended to escape the
notice of many local police agencies because the dealing takes place
behind club doors.

``It's a very upscale drug. You don't really see the downtrodden using
it,'' he said. ``It's going crazy in the clubs.''

One recreational user, a bartender named Judith at a South of Market
music club, said she knew Ecstasy wasn't healthy but liked the
tremendous feelings of euphoria it provided when she took it with some
friends last Saturday night.

``When I put my hand on another person's arm, it was like I could feel
every pore in their skin,'' she said. ``Colors were brighter, sounds
in the room were much more intense.''

Most of the Ecstasy pills that wind up in San Francisco are
manufactured in underground laboratories in the Netherlands and
smuggled through U.S. airports.

The single largest seizure of Ecstasy in the United States was made at
San Francisco International Airport last week, when customs agents
found 490,000 pills in packages labeled ``cotton pants'' on a United
Airlines flight from Paris.

``It's out there in great quantities,'' said Mike Fleming, spokesman
for the U.S. Customs Service in Los Angeles. ``American teenagers have
fallen in love with it.''

Sometimes called ``the hug drug,'' Ecstasy is an integral part of the
culture at all-night dance parties called ``raves,'' usually held in
semisecret locations and discreetly advertised on the Internet and on
tacked-up cards in music stores.

Rave parties feature a disc jockey playing high-energy techno music
and a lot of touching and hugging on the dance floor. Bottled mineral
water is quaffed constantly to combat the dehydration and heightened
body temperature produced by the drug.

Other effects can include lasting fatigue, diminished immune
capabilities and death from overdose. Nationwide, ecstasy-related
trips to hospital emergency rooms went up 900 percent from 1993 to
1997, said Fleming.

``Kids here take it and it makes them feel good, but it's a serious
drug with serious side effects. We call it `lobotomy in a pill,' ''
Fleming said.

Some here are already heeding that message. A Haight Street drug-
dealer named Merlin says he sells other chemicals, but he won't go
near Ecstasy.

``It's great at first, but then it makes you real sick,'' he said.
``It can paralyze you.''