POLICE: ECSTACY USE ON THE RISE

STORRS - The use and sale of the illegal "designer drug" called Ecstasy is
on the rise on the campus of the University of Connecticut - and throughout
the region - campus and state police said this week.

UConn Police Maj. Ron Blicher said the arrest of seven people on charges of
conspiracy to sell the drug over the past several weeks indicates a renewed
interest among some students with Ecstasy, a man-made derivative of
amphetamines and methamphetamines. According to student records, only one
of those arrested, Stephen Hogan, 20, of Pawtucket, R.I., is listed as
enrolled at the university.

"There has been an increase frequency of incidents on campus where the drug
Ecstasy is involved," said Blicher. "We believe our investigations into the
possession and sale of the drug have been successful and the ongoing
investigation may lead to more arrests."

The latest incidents involving the drug occurred Tuesday when UConn police
arrested Marie Cassie Hogan, 21, and Joseph Wilfred Mooney, 22, both of 185
Lake Shore Drive, Pascoag, R.I. Police said both were arrested in Rhode
Island and charged with conspiracy to sell methamphetamines as a result of
the current investigation.

Police said both were placed on $50,000 bonds and will be extradited to
Connecticut. Mooney is scheduled to appear in Rockville Superior Court in
Vernon on Dec. 29 and Hogan on Jan. 11.

Blicher said all the Ecstasy seized by police was in tablet form and the
drug is usually manufactured in clandestine laboratories, which are "most
likely not located in the state."

State Police Sgt. Jeff Hotsky, of the eastern division of the Statewide
Narcotics Task Force, said use of Ecstasy is definitely on the increase and
his unit has investigated about a dozen cases involving the drug in the
region over the last year. Hotsky said that as the latest "trendy drug,"
Ecstasy is often used in combination with marijuana or the animal
tranquilizer called "Special K."

A tablet or capsule containing about 300 milligrams of the Ecstasy drug
mixture sells anywhere from $25 to $30 each, he said.

As a drug that gives users both the effects of "speed" and a hallucinogen,
Ecstasy is especially popular for use at all-night "rave" parties, said
Vicky Barbero, director of adolescent programs for Perception Programs of
Willimantic.

Barbero said the number of reported cases of Ecstasy use among adolescents
in the Windham region is only about five percent and she is not sure the
arrests at UConn have any correlation to the area’s youth.

Barbero said Ecstasy can be snorted, injected with a needle or taken in
tablet form. She said extended use of the drug can lead to hypertension,
heart or kidney failure and many users experience dehydration if they use
the drug while involved in activities such as all-night dancing.

Interim UConn Chancellor Fred Maryanski said campus police have kept him
informed about the increase incidents of Ecstasy use which have led to the
recent arrests. Maryanski said UConn officials "try to make it very clear
to students that the university is not a place where drug transactions will
be allowed to prosper."

Maryanski also said he believes that various student affairs organizations
do not consider Ecstasy use to be of a crisis proportion and none have
raised the issue with him.

"This is, of course, a societal issue and problem that is occurring across
the nation," said Maryanski. "This particular drug seems to be popular with
people of this (college) age group."

UConn police said the suspects - who were arrested on a variety of charges
which include conspiracy to possess methamphetamines and criminal attempt
to possess methamphetamines with intent to sell - allegedly conspired to
supply a number of people on campus with a large quantity of the illegal drug.

Despite the ongoing arrests at UConn, police departments in Willimantic,
Eastern Connecticut State University and Coventry said they have not yet
seen any cases involving the Ecstasy drug.

Of those arrested and placed on $50,000 bonds, Hogan, Jeffrey Petrello, 22,
of Coventry, and Jason R. Malin, 26, of Vernon, did not enter pleas in
Rockville Superior Court in Vernon last week but had their cases continued
to Jan. 13. Robert Hayden, 22, of Seymour, and Joseph McCarthy, 26, of
Monroe, are scheduled to appear in Rockville Superior Court on Jan. 4.

In addition to the drug charges, police said Hayden was charged with
unlawful restraint and threatening and Malin was charged with unlawful
restraint stemming from allegations that the two forcibly detained and
threatened one of the people involved in a failed attempt to get the drugs.