DRUG FEARS RISE AS PRICE DROPS TO AUKP2

ECSTASY use in the county has risen in the last two years due to a steep
drop in price, it has been claimed.

The drug is becoming more readily available, reducing the price from
between AUKP15 and AUKP20 a pill in 2000 to as low as AUKP2 today.

Sgt Andy Stuart, of the county police's communities against drugs unit,
said: "Ecstasy is being produced in this country more and more.

"Manufacturers don't need chemists " machines are left to run and churn
out thousands and thousands of tablets in an afternoon.

"The drop in price makes ecstasy more available to younger people. If they
have only got a few pounds pocket money they can afford it.

"Users were predominantly teenagers and people in their early 20s. Now it
is people in their late 20s and beyond as well " it is a fashionable drug."

Kettering General Hospital has also seen a rise in admissions through
ecstasy, also known as methlylene dioxyamthetamine, or MDMA, which is
especially harmful if mixed with alcohol or other drugs.

Accident and emergency manager Elaine Rowland said: "We have seen an
increase in use, not just in younger people who go clubbing, but also
people in their mid-20s and early 30s."

Agencies responsible for drug counselling and enforcement say it is not
possible to calculate the full extent of ecstasy use in Northamptonshire.

But it is believed that across the UK an average of two million people use
it each weekend, largely as a recreational drug.

Police are running campaigns in schools and colleges to make people aware
of the immediate and long-term health problems ecstasy can cause, as well
as targeting dealers.

Paul Clark, Wellingborough area manager of the drugs and alcohol agency
Can, said: "Something that might be a contributor to the increase in
problems with ecstasy is the national debate about the reclassification of
certain drugs such as cannabis and ecstasy.

"It gives the message to young people that the risks of using ecstasy are
very low and that it is a safe drug to use.

"There is no such thing as a safe drug."