'ECSTASY' DRUG SEIZURES MULTIPLYING

WASHINGTON - Ecstasy, a designer drug used mainly by upscale teens and young
professionals, is being seized by authorities in record numbers.

U.S. Customs officials have seized more than 950,000 Ecstasy tablets this
year, more than twice the previous annual record of 381,000 tablets in 1997.
About 375,000 tablets were seized in 1998.

The sharp increase in quantities and recent similarities in the way tablets
are packaged are indications that smuggling operations are becoming more
organized, authorities say.

U.S. Customs Commissioner Raymond Kelly says the fear is that "what we're
seeing at our ports of entry is merely a reflection of what is going on in
terms of use across the country. Ecstasy is a stealth drug that has quietly
crept into the suburban youth culture.

"Parents need to know what's going on."

Ecstasy tablets cost about 2 cents each to make and sell for as much as $45
apiece on the street, Kelly says.

Concern over the rapid growth of Ecstasy trafficking from Western Europe
prompted a meeting last month at Interpol headquarters in France.

Officials established an Ecstasy desk to keep agencies in the organization's
177-member countries informed about trafficking of the drug.

Ecstasy users primarily are affluent teen-agers who frequent all-night dance
parties called raves, which are increasingly popular in suburbs and cities
such as Austin, Texas; Miami; San Francisco; Washington, D.C.; and New York.

Chemically known as methylenedioximethamphetamine, or MDMA, Ecstasy is
called the "love drug" or "hug drug." It is a mild hallucinogenic that
creates a sense of euphoria.

The effects of one tablet can last up to six hours and produces a high that
stops the user from feeling tired or hungry.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions in Baltimore say the drug
damages nerves that produce serotonin, the nerve transmitter thought to play
a role in regulating mood, memory, pain perception, sleep, appetite and
sexual activity.

Ecstasy also causes an increase in blood pressure and body temperature.

Trinka Porrata, a former Los Angeles Police Department narcotics detective
who instructs officers nationwide on club drugs and raves, says that "law
enforcement has no clue" how pervasive the drug is becoming.

But, she says, "it's forcing its way into our awareness."