DEATH TOLL FROM MIXING ILLICIT DRUGS RISES

Volatile Mixes Of Hard-core Drugs Are Killing A Mounting Number Of
People In Miami-Dade County.

(Miami)-The latest casualty was a "rave" partygoer found dead Monday in his
Coconut Grove hotel room, along with two unconscious friends. Police
discovered evidence of nine drugs in the hotel room rented by
23-year-old Bjorn Hans Di Maio and his friends: cocaine, marijuana,
Ecstasy, LSD, heroin, Xanax, laughing gas, ketamine (known as Special
K) and alcohol.

Eight other people -- including John Anthony Paone, 25, of Hollywood,
and Minet Fernandez-Moris, 23, of Pembroke Pines -- who attended the
weekend's all-night rave dance at the Coconut Grove Convention Center
were hospitalized for drug overdoses.

In Miami-Dade County, deaths related to the use of heroin and Ecstasy
are on the rise, although cocaine continues to be the drug of choice.
Also increasing is the number of deaths caused by several narcotics.

"We've seen occasions where people mix the most ridiculous drugs, such
as cocaine and heroin," said George Hime, supervisor of the toxicology
laboratory at the Miami-Dade medical examiner's office. The two drugs
have opposite effects on the body: Cocaine stimulates while heroin
depresses.

Last year, 47 people died in Miami-Dade County as a result of using
two or more illicit drugs -- a toll that has steadily increased from
the 19 deaths in 1995. So far this year, 19 have died from mixing
drugs, not including partygoer Di Maio, of North Miami, whose cause of
death has not yet been classified.

The number of deaths are higher for people overdosing on a single
illicit drug.

Most victims are under age 40, including heroin users. Authorities
attribute the rise of heroin users to the fact that prices of the
narcotic dropped two years ago.

"The heroin addict used to conjure up one of the worst images of a
person who was down and out," Hime said. "Now it can be anybody."

Law enforcement authorities are quickly pointing fingers at the "rave
culture," which they say promotes the use of multiple drugs.

Gov. Jeb Bush's drug policy coordinator, Jim McDonough, said he is
working on a comprehensive statewide plan to curb raves.

A witness to Di Maio's death told police the partygoers slept only two
hours in three days.

How did they last so long? Narcotics, authorities said.

"Part of the rave culture is to polydrug, or combine different drugs,"
Miami Police narcotics Detective Eladio Paez said. "The main drug is
Ecstasy, but if you do Ecstasy, you eventually have to use another
drug to come down from it."

An Ecstasy high can last between four and six hours, Paez said. Two
uses and you can dance for about 12 hours. "That's why these parties
go on for so long."

The stimulant drug increases body temperature and many partygoers at
the fest were seen trying to cool down any way they could -- including
inhaling Vicks VapoRub, Paez said.

But Jason Donovan, president of Plantation-based Zen Fest, says the
late hours have nothing to do with narcotics. "People stay up late
until 11 a.m. or noon and people think they have to be on drugs," he
said. "We are saddened that someone passed away, but it had nothing to
do with us."

As a result of the backlash from the overdoses, however, Donovan is
considering holding future raves earlier -- from noon to 2 a.m.

The popularity of raves is a national phenomenon: Last weekend's event
was part of a 26-city national tour, which includes stops in New
Orleans, Austin and Los Angeles this week.

Donovan, promoter of Zen Fest since 1992, says a lack of understanding
about the rave culture leads to the bad rap raves get. He says it's
about all-night parties aimed at promoting peace, love, unity and
respect through one harmonious groove.

The Coconut Grove event had the proper permits and safety measures --
including police -- to prevent any mishaps during the rave, he said.

"Why do people do drugs at raves? I don't know, but it's not going to
stop," he said.

But McDonough has vowed to crack down on the drug use at the events
with a three-fold attack that includes: an effort to educate parents
and kids about the dangers of drug use at parties, more arrests of
users and dealers, and the termination of licenses that allow the
operation of some of these events, which he termed "drug centers."

That would be a big letdown for ravers, who don't want to see a
crackdown and blame the problems on personal irresponsibility.

"If you overdose, you're being stupid, you took too much," said Eli
Ciuraru, 18, of Miami Beach. "It's like swallowing too much water, you
drown yourself."

But "you've got to have freedom of the people," Ciuraru
said.

"You go along to any club on the Beach, and you'll find the same thing
- -- granted not as much because there aren't as many people -- but you
are going to find lots of drugs," said Jerry Villarroel, 22, a film
student. He said he hasn't done drugs for five years, and enjoys raves.

But the governor's Office of Drug Control says it is alarmed with the
statewide trend.

Among some recent Florida deaths:

Marcus Sapp, a 21-year-old from DeLand, died in 1997 after attending a
Zen Festival in Auburndale that drew 22,000 people. Sapp, friends told
police, took Ecstasy, smoked pot and drank alcohol at the fest. Then
they drove to Kissimmee, checked into a hotel and took heroin.

Last June, 19-year-old Kelly Hendershot of Pinellas Park fell comatose
on the floor of a Tampa club that played rave music, killed by a
classically lethal mix in her blood stream -- methamphetamine,
cocaine, marijuana, topped by a last hit on a nitrous oxide balloon.

Last March, 19-year-old Jerry Costello of Homosassa died in his sleep
after partying at a Tampa club. Medical examiners found amphetamines,
marijuana and heroin in his body.

In California, with the nation's biggest rave scene, mounting deaths
have drawn wide public attention that skyrocketed last month after
five kids died in a car crash on a winding mountain road after an
all-night rave at a ski resort.

Similar deaths have happened nationwide.

Omar Lopez, 22, of South Beach, shrugs it all off.

"It's just some kids got out of hand. The new thing is to see who can
get the highest. They think that's what it's about, but it's really
not," Lopez said.
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Herald Staff Writer Johnny Diaz And Research Editor Elisabeth Donovan
Contributed To This Report.