TEENS' FONDNESS FOR DRUG ECSTASY CALLED ALARMING

WASHINGTON - Even as casual drug use has dropped nationwide, some of the
nation's most prominent drug experts warned Tuesday that the use of a
psychedelic drug known as ecstasy has risen sharply, particularly among
young people.

In the last 10 months alone, the U.S. Customs Service has seized a record 8
million doses of ecstasy at the nation's airports and other ports of entry,
far exceeding the 750,000 doses or tablets seized in 1998 and the 3 .5
million confiscated last year.

But officials gathered at a conference in Washington to discuss how to deal
with the drug acknowledge that the seizures represent only a fraction of the
amount of ecstasy that has been smuggled into the country and channeled into
major cities.

Officials say the drug, which increases energy and is reputed to foster a
sense of well-being, has gained alarming popularity among teens on the
nightclub circuit and at dance parties known as raves.

The proliferation of the so-called club drug has been fueled by highly
organized drug traffickers who authorities say have begun to expand their
sales operations into the increasingly lucrative ecstasy market, where a
single pill can be manufactured for as little as 50 cents and then sold for
as much $40.

"What was once ad-hoc smuggling among small-time dealers and users has
mushroomed into organized trafficking among criminals," said Raymond Kelly,
Customs Service commissioner. "They have the money and the muscle to market
ecstasy beyond the club scene in New York, Miami and Los Angeles. We now see
it surfacing all over the country."

The seizures have prompted such widespread concern that law enforcement
officials and drug policy experts from across the country have gathered this
week in Washington at a conference to discuss strategies for combating it.