CLUB DRUGS OFFER DARK FUTURE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

As people gather this evening to celebrate the passing of one year and the
beginning of another, some people, mostly adolescents and young adults, may
begin a dark journey that could lead to death. Powerful substances known as
"club drugs" or "rave drugs" are gaining popularity among the nation's
youth and across the state.

"We have a club drug problem in Tennessee," said Harry Sommers, special
agent in charge for operations of the Drug Enforcement Administration in
Tennessee. "We saw it peak a couple of years ago and it is leveling off
now. The use of club drugs is still going on."

Drugs such as MDMA, which is also known as "Ecstasy" or "X" and is similar
in chemical composition to methamphetamine, as well as substances such as
Ketamine and GHB are becoming more popular among adolescents and young
adults due to the affects the drugs have on the human body.

"A lot of them they refer to as 'love drugs,'" Sommers said. "They serve to
lower inhibitions and the users believe it increases their awareness of
their surroundings."

Sommers said what scares him about the proliferation of club drugs is the
amount of misinformation that circulates about them and their affects. "One
of my concerns about club drugs is that many of these drugs have fallacies
spread about them that they are harmless," he said. "These are highly
dangerous drugs. Besides whatever pleasure they derive from the use of the
drugs, there are many side affects as well."

Another DEA agent, Joey Reece, who is the resident agent in charge for the
Knoxville office of the DEA, finds the group which is targeted by this drug
to be frightening. "What really bothers me is the age group -- they are
kids," Reece said.

The most common club drug in the United States is the drug "X." According
to Reece, there is a problem with Ecstasy in East Tennessee.

More than 6.4 million people age 12 and older reported in the year 2000
that they had used Ecstasy at least once in their lives, according to the
DEA. A vast majority of the Ecstasy used in the United States is imported
from overseas and only a small number of clandestine labs which produce the
drug have been discovered, according to Sommers.

Much of the Ecstasy imported to the U.S. is made in Holland by organized
Israeli drug rings, Sommers stated. Once imported the drug travels across
the county before making its way to its final destination. The Ecstasy in
Tennessee is imported "mostly from California and then to Atlanta and then
on up into Tennessee," Reece said.

The DEA reports that an estimated 2 million tablets of Ecstasy are smuggled
into the U.S. each week.

The fact that these drugs are manufactured overseas and then pass through
so many hands before reaching users is another fact that worries law
enforcement officers about the use of the drugs. "I am told a lot that when
you take Ecstasy you don't know where it comes from or how pure it is so
you are really taking a chance with it," Reece said.

The chemical compound which comprises Ecstasy was first discovered in
Germany in 1913 and was originally intended as a weight loss drug but due
to the dangerous side effects was never marketed, according to information
from the DEA. The drug was rediscovered in the 1960s, and, during the
1970s, some psychiatrists became interested in the drug to help their
patients speak more openly during therapy sessions due to the way the drug
lowers inhibitions. According to the DEA, the subjective affects of the
drug include a heightened sense of awareness as well as a feeling of
increased emotional closeness or empathy.

However, research in the 1970s began to show that prolonged use of Ecstasy
had adverse affects on the brain with functions such as memory loss and
cognitive impairment and with levels of a brain chemical called Serotonin.

According to the DEA, research on the chronic use of the drug has shown
links to depression and long-term neurochemical and brain cell damage.
There have also been reports of people dying from the adverse affects the
drug has on the body such as severe dehydration, hyperthermia and increased
blood pressure and heart rate.

Ketamine and GHB (chemically known as Gamma Hydroxybutyric Acid) are also
among substances which fall into the "club drug" category, and these two
drugs present even darker dangers than Ecstasy due to the fact that they
are often used in a predatory nature to commit sexual assault.

Ketamine, also known as "Special K," "K" or "Jet", is a pharmaceutical
product which is legally produced in the U.S. and is used in veterinary
clinics as an animal tranquilizer. According to the DEA, the only source of
the drug in the U.S. is through diversion of the legal substance. DEA
reports state that a significant number of veterinary clinics are being
robbed primarily for their stock of Ketamine. Another major source for the
drug in the U.S. is product diversion from pharmacies in Mexico.

Ketamine, like Ecstasy, produces a euphoric high for the user as well as an
increased sense of awareness. "Higher doses produce an effect referred to
as 'K-Hole,' an 'out of body' or 'near death' experience," states
information the DEA provides about the drug. "Use of the drug can cause
delirium, amnesia, depression, and long-term memory and cognitive
difficulties. Due to its dissociative effect, it is reportedly used as a
date-rape drug."

GHB, which has garnered major media attention as well as the title "the
date-rape drug", is also a popular choice among young people choosing to
experiment with club drugs. However, unlike Ecstasy or Ketamine, GHB is not
imported, but rather is produced in small home laboratories in much the
same way as methamphetamine is.

According to information from the DEA, the drug is odorless and colorless
and nearly impossible to detect with taste if it has been added to a drink.
"GHB has been used in the commission of sexual assaults because it renders
the victim incapable of resisting, and may cause memory problems that could
complicate case prosecution," information from the DEA about the drug states.

The physical affects of GHB are frightening as well. "In lower doses, GHB
causes drowsiness, dizziness, nausea and visual disturbances. At higher
dosages, unconsciousness, seizures, severe respiratory depression and coma
can occur." Overdoses of the drug usually result in hospitalization. In the
year 2000, the DEA documented more than 70 deaths linked to GHB.

Sommers said he is most concerned about the long lasting effects of club
drugs on the people who use them. "These young people are not making mature
decisions about things that could affect them for the rest of their life,"
he said, comparing the club drugs of today with LSD which was widely used
in the 1960s.