COPS COMBAT RISE IN DESIGNER DRUGS

Responding to a rash of designer drug overdoses in the past two months
- - including three at one club in one night - Boston police have posted
warning signs in all of the city's nightclubs and are questioning why
some owners have hired private ambulances.

"It's become an epidemic which we're very concerned about," Boston
police spokeswoman Sgt. Detective Margot Hill said. "There is a
potential for death here and before we see someone die, we want to
make sure we've done as much as we can."

According to Hill, at least five patrons of the Roxy on Tremont Street
have overdosed on GHB, or "liquid G," in the past month. On Feb. 13,
there were three reported "liquid G" overdoses at the trendy
nightspot, including a waitress who passed out and was hospitalized
after drinking a glass of water that was spiked with the recently
banned drug.

Last weekend, a 21-year-old Franklin woman blacked out at the club and
was rushed to the hospital after her drink was "tabbed" with GHB.

Overall, there have been 10 reported designer drug overdoses this year
in Boston, all of which resulted from GHB, ecstasy or an ecstasy mimic
drug called DXM. None were fatal.

In an attempt to combat the growing problem, Boston police have hung
bright yellow signs in all city nightclubs, urging patrons not to
accept pills or liquids from strangers and warning that use can result
in "seizures, coma or death."

Police are also wary of some club owners who have hired private
ambulance services "to whisk kids out the back door," instead of using
the city's free 911 service. Doing so, Hill said, cuts down on
emergency responses to their establishments and hides the amount of
overdoses.

"The clubs are saying they're cooperating with us, but then they're
hiring their own ambulances," Hill said. "I see it as symptomatic of a
larger problem they're not addressing."

The Roxy uses a private, Dorchester-based company called EasCare, as
did the Paradise, a Commonwealth Avenue club which closed its doors
this week after a string of license violations. Last month, an
undercover cop on duty at the Paradise filed a report after seeing an
overdosing clubber wheeled out a back door into an ambulance without
notifying an on-duty police officer.

EasCare spokesman Ed Hennegan rebutted Hill's claims, sayingclubs hire
the company because their EMTs are equally qualified but do the job
three times cheaper than the city.

"It's been a long-standing, problematic issue," Hennegan
said.

He also said EasCare EMTs work side by side with Boston police, making
it impossible to under-report overdoses.

"When someone hits the floor, Boston PD is right there, so how could
they hide the numbers?" Hennegan said.

An overdose produces heat stroke-like effects and dehydration that can
be brought on by alcohol, which is why many club goers shun booze in
favor of bottled water.

Hill says police have also taken note that some clubs have hiked cover
charges as high as $15 and are charging up to $7 for bottled water,
apparently to make up for sagging bar receipts.

GHB, recently banned under federal law, has resulted in at least 65
deaths nationwide in the past five years, including 18-year-old Kelly
Ann Sullivan of Uxbridge who died in a Hyannis motel room last month
after taking ecstasy and GHB with her boyfriend.