LOCAL ANTI-DRUG CAMPAIGN TO TARGET ECSTASY

Local health experts are planning to use a just-awarded $336,643
federal grant to spread the word about the dangers of club drugs through:

* Adapting middle-school curriculum to include this.

* Training high-school leaders.

* Sponsoring forums to educate parents and community
members.

* Gathering better statistics about use at settings such as raves,
clubs, bars and bathhouses.

Public Health - Seattle & King County is one of 13 organizations
nationwide to win the award, making its case for a local need with
evidence that included: increasing local arrests for possession and
sales of club drugs; and Seattle's distinction as the metro area with
the second-highest number of emergency-room reports of Ecstasy, at 6.5
per 100,000 (San Francisco had the highest, at 6.6 per 100,000).

Ecstasy will be the campaign's main focus, along with GHB, inhalants,
Rohypnol, ketamine, methamphetamine and LSD.

"Ecstasy is not just a 'feel good' drug; the downside of Ecstasy and
other club drugs are health risks such as heart problems, memory loss
and even death," said Dr. Alonzo Plough, public-health director. "Some
of these drugs are used in date rapes. We've also seen club drugs
associated with impaired driving and fatal crashes."