ECSTACY DRUG COULD DEVELOP INTO EPIDEMIC

An illicit drug called ecstacy is pouring into the United States in
such quantities that an epidemic is not only possible, but probable.

Parents need to talk to their kids about this one, and young people
need to know that ecstacy is bad news.

The hallucinogenic drug is reaching the United States in record
amounts — and its use rapidly escalating. In an effort to stem the
flow, the Customs Service has created a task force to coordinate cases
dealing with the drug and is training 13 drug-detection dogs to sniff
out the substance.

Ecstacy is popular among young people. Sadly, this is the group that
is most vulnerable to the effects of the drug, which produces euphoria
and an increased desire to interact socially.

It also does other things. Blood pressure, heart rate and body
temperature increase dramatically. Other physical symptoms include
involuntary teeth-grinding. To counter this, some users suck on pacifiers.

The flood of the drug into the United States is huge. Since Oct. 1 of
last year, customs officials have seized almost 4 million doses of the
drug. For fiscal year 1999, which ended Sept. 30, inspectors
confiscated 3 million doses and in the 1998 fiscal year, 750,000 doses.

Last December, customs officials in California confiscated 700 pounds
of the drug, the single largest seizure of its kind in the agency's
history.

There's a huge profit in ecstacy for drug dealers and
handlers.

In Europe, from where many of the tablets are exported to the United
States, the doses cost just a few pennies apiece to make. When tablets
are sold in the United States, they can bring $20 to $40 each.

The profits are so huge that international crime groups have become
heavily involved in the ecstasy trade. Such syndicates are capable of
smuggling huge quantities of the drug.

The easy money has attracted some prominent names associated with
crime. Former Mafia hit man Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano was
arrested in February for alleged participation in an ecstasy-peddling
ring.

The drug is popular among teen-agers, especially those who frequent
nightclubs and all-night "techno-dance" parties known as "raves."
Raves — with intake of ecstacy — are most active in urban areas, but
they're also spreading into suburban and rural communities.

The drug is Methylenedioxy-methylamphetamine, or MDMA, but it is
universally called ecstacy. Parents who want more details on the drug
can find it on the Customs Service's World Wide Web site,
http://www.customs.gov.

The more parents and teen-agers learn about ecstacy, the better
equipped they will be to make sure the answer is "No!" when someone
suggests using it.

Using that word at the right time could save a lot of agony and
heartache.