UNCW HOPES STUDENTS LEARN FROM DRUG RAID

After Tuesday's arrest of a University of North Carolina Wilmington
senior on drug trafficking charges, school officials say they expect
the case to help raise awareness of the consequences of drug
involvement.

"I think it will help folks think twice, and to realize that the
campus is not a bubble," said Rebecca Caldwell, director of UNCW's
substance abuse and prevention programs. "It's good for them to know
that you're not immune, that if you're doing illegal stuff, there's a
very active group of folks out there tracking you down." The arrest
took place off-campus, when authorities from the Wilmington Police
Department and N.C. State Bureau of Investigation raided a home on
Lennon Drive early Tuesday. Authorities seized 2,200 pills of ecstasy,
18 pounds of marijuana and stolen firearms, according to the
Wilmington Police Department. Police arrested three people, including
UNCW student Ashley Elizabeth Ricks, 21, who is listed as a junior on
UNCW's online directory. Charges against Ricks and Kathryn Elizabeth
Williams, 21. and Lamont James Stevenson, 34, include drug
trafficking, maintaining a dwelling or vehicle for drug purposes and
possessing drug paraphernalia. The three are being held in the New
Hanover County jail on $1 million secured bonds. Tuesday's seizure
caps a six-month upswing in ecstasy-related arrests and seizures in
the area, according to the New Hanover County Sheriff's Office.
Formerly found mostly in music venues, the drug has spread to the
college scene and beyond, said Capt. David Ciamillo of the Vice
Narcotics Unit. "For the longest time, we saw it as a 'club drug,' and
you saw it mostly in the downtown area at raves or at other techno
parties," Ciamillo said. "We're now seeing it spread beyond that,
beyond downtown." Ecstasy, or MDMA, produces an energizing effect, as
well as feelings of euphoria, emotional warmth and distortions in time
perception, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. It is
taken orally, as a capsule or tablet. Negative effects include
increases in heart rate and blood pressure, nausea, and depression. It
also inhibits the body's ability to regulate itself, which can lead to
liver, heart and kidney failure, resulting in death. Ecstasy became
popular on college campuses early this decade, Caldwell said, and UNCW
surveys have showed a small upswing in use in the past year. In a
survey taken by 600 students in April, 4 percent said they had used
the drug in the past 12 months.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, use of the drug by
high school seniors increased from 3 percent to 4.5 percent between
2005 and 2007.