DESIGNER DRUGS LURE YOUNG

Area arrests point to an increasing use at nightclubs of cheap, easy to get
chemicals

Dan Dangler knows well the lure of so-called designer drugs -- and the
dangers they bring.

"I watch a lot of kids, man, and they're turning into zombies," said
Dangler, 27, who experimented with the drug Ecstasy and another called GHB
before swearing off drugs altogether.

Designer -- or chemically produced -- drugs are gaining popularity in
Rochester and around the nation. They are cheap and easy to get. And
authorities are worried that young people -- and their parents -- don't
know enough about the harm they can cause.

The drugs are especially prevalent among people younger than 25 at local
nightclubs, where several dozen arrests have been made over the past year
and a half.

"Our evidence shows that some of them (entertainment establishments) are
perhaps implicitly, and maybe even explicitly, encouraging this
phenomenon," said William R. Faucette Jr., head of the city's 20-member
entertainment task force.

The task force has suggested preventing "over-under" and younger than 21
mix -- and promoting alternative venues for younger crowds.

If police or city officials have enough proof of drug activity at a venue,
the city will close it, said city corporation counsel Linda Kingsley.

But it's up to owners to stop people high on drugs from coming into the
club and to maintain control once people enter, she added.

Nightclub operators object to having designer drugs classified as their
problem.

"You should go after the drugs, in general, and not after the nightclubs,"
said John Chmiel, general manager of the Water Street Music Hall, which
includes the Piranha Club.

"Wherever there is a large gathering, you'll find drug use of one sort or
another."

Both Chmiel and Rob Maher, owner of the Red Social Lounge, said they take
measures to ensure that there is no drug activity in their clubs. Chmiel
has hired several security staffers, for example.

And Maher maintains that designer drugs are not as prevalent now as they
were in 1993 and 1994. "It's just something that has gone on and had its
time here and moved on," he said.

Rochester police Capt. Lynde Johnston, however, said the problem has been
on the rise at some of the 52 clubs downtown in the past six months.

Police officers have been finding people passed out in streets and in
parking lots, said Johnston, who was in charge of Downtown Section from
April 1997 until November.

Many places remain open late -- until 6 a.m., in some cases -- to encourage
this type of crowd, he said. Some sell bottled water and give out salt
tablets to keep users from dehydrating. Because some designer drugs are
colorless, tasteless and odorless, they are often added to beverages.

Johnston and Chmiel said they are concerned about getting information about
the danger of drugs to the public.

"I don't think parents have the information, sometimes," said Johnston, now
in charge of the Central Investigation Section.

The phenomenon of designer drugs -- sometimes called club drugs because of
their use at all-night dance parties such as "raves" or "trances" -- is not
unique to this area.

"What's happening in Rochester is reflective of what's happening throughout
the country," said Rochester police Capt. Robert Wale, who is in charge of
the Special Investigations Section.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse has detected an alarming increase in
the popularity of designer drugs, according to a report issued in December.
NIDA, a component of the National Institutes of Health, is based in
Bethesda, Md.

The drugs can be ingested in liquid or tablet form, and they can be
obtained at what users consider a moderate price. Ecstasy, for example,
sells at $2 a pill wholesale and $25 to $30 a pill on the street.

Some chemicals that are used to make the drugs are manufactured in the
United States, while others are smuggled in from Europe and Mexico.

The Drug Enforcement Agency said in a statement this week that it has seen
an increase in the use of Ecstasy in New York state. The drug traffickers
present a significant challenge for law enforcement, according to the DEA,
because they are multinational, multilingual and extremely mobile.

As part of a national initiative to combat the increasing use of club
drugs, NIDA recently announced that it will raise its funding for research
into the drugs by 40 percent, bringing the total commitment to $54 million.

In addition, NIDA and four national organizations have launched a
multimedia public education strategy to alert teens, young adults, parents,
educators and others to the dangers of club drugs. That includes a Web
site, www.clubdrugs.org

In the Rochester area, former users such as Dangler, who works at an area
club, offer an example with their decision to stop. "I had my share, but I
need my head on my shoulders now," he
said.