NEW PROGRAM TARGETS CLUB DRUG ABUSE

In response to an alarming increase in the use of club drugs such as
Ecstasy among young suburbanites, one of the Chicago area's largest
substance-abuse treatment agencies is launching a new education program,
officials said.

Haymarket Center West in Schaumburg, an outpatient center that treats drug
and alcohol abuse, plans to launch its Club and Other Drug Awareness
program Jan. 7. The three-week program, which has received a one-year,
$100,000 grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, will have about 100 clients from the courts in northwest Cook,
Lake, DuPage and McHenry Counties.

The program is designed to provide alternatives to jail or prison for teens
and young adults on parole or probation who abuse club drugs, said Bettie
Foley, Haymarket West's director. There's a need for such programs, she
said, because most drug abuse intervention and treatment programs are
tailored to users of drugs such as cocaine, alcohol and heroin.

"There's no system in the courts that sets up program protocol for club
drug users," Foley said.

"Club drug users in treatment think, `Hey, Why am I here? All these other
people have a problem, but I don't.'"

Club drug is a generic phrase used to describe a variety of synthetic
substances, among them Ecstasy, GHB, Rohypnol, ketamine, methamphetamine
and LSD. Initially linked to all-night dance parties, the drugs have spread
outside the so-called rave scene, according to a report by the National
Institute on Drug Abuse. Ecstasy use--and emergency room visits resulting
from abuse of the drug--has risen in recent years, with deaths associated
with the drug increasing every year since 1999, according to the institute.

Because the drugs are manufactured, usually illegally for profit, users
don't know what chemicals they're ingesting, officials said. Recent studies
have linked Ecstasy use and memory problems.

Haymarket West's new program aims to educate young users about the dangers
of club drugs and to screen for more serious substance abuse problems that
require more intensive outpatient treatment. The Schaumburg center is the
suburban branch of Haymarket Center, a substance abuse center since 1975
with seven locations in Chicago.

"Through referral from the courts and probation system, we will educate
these clients about substance use and abuse, what it does to them and to
society and how they can avoid the dangers and tragedies continued abuse
almost certainly will bring," she said.

Foley also hopes the program will alleviate the strain club drug abuse
places on emergency rooms and the criminal justice system.

"We need more intervention programs like this that specifically target club
drug users," said Cmdr. Terry Lemming, director of the Lake County
Metropolitan Enforcement Group, a multi-jurisdictional drug task force. "We
in law enforcement are not so naive as to think we can fight this growing
problem alone."

Steve Harvath, an adult probation officer in Cook County, said many club
drug users in treatment don't identify with the program's anti-drug message
because it's not targeted to their drug of choice. "In such a case the
substance abuse treatment may not be as intense as it needs to be, and the
patient doesn't get much out of it," he said.

Harvath said the new Haymarket program will help reach those most at risk
of abusing club drugs.

"A lot of teens and 20-somethings are experimenting with these drugs,"
Harvath said. "Most of the population has been educated on the dangers of
traditional illegal drugs, but with these new club drugs, the information
isn't hitting home."

Lemming said part of Ecstasy's danger is its unreliable manufacturing.

"When I was working undercover in 1997, we'd never heard of it," he said.

"Now, it's almost as popular as mainstream illegal drugs like cocaine,
marijuana and heroin. Yet this drug isn't grown or produced by a
pharmaceutical company. It's an unknown quantity, a random concoction of
chemicals produced by criminals. You never know what you're getting."