'MORE PEOPLE ARE DYING'

GAINESVILLE - The illegal drug Ecstasy, already linked to brain and liver
damage, may be causing more traffic accidents and multiple-drug overdoses,
a University of Florida researcher said.

Ecstasy and closely related chemicals, known collectively as methylated
amphetamines, have become mainstream street drugs, said Bruce Goldberger, a
UF associate professor and forensic toxicologist.

"As these drugs have gained popularity, people have begun using them more
recklessly," Goldberger said Wednesday. "We believe this trend is occurring
nationwide, but we don't have specific figures because most states don't
track this information as thoroughly as Florida does."

Drivers impaired by methylated amphetamines could experience distorted
perceptions of time and space, impaired judgment, poor concentration,
attraction to lights and visual hallucinations.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement this month issued its annual
report on drug-related deaths in the state.

In 2001, methylated amphetamines were found in 147 of approximately 15,000
autopsies performed by the state's medical examiners. Sixty-nine percent of
the deaths were due to accidental causes, such as non-deliberate drug
overdoses, traffic accidents and drowning.

'MORE PEOPLE ARE DYING'

"The new report confirms what toxicologists already know from observation -
more people are dying," said Goldberger, who performs post-mortem drug
screens for several medical examiner districts throughout the state.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse estimated that in 1996 about 4.9
million people had tried methamphetamines at some time in their lives, up
from 3.8 million in 1994.

Methylated amphetamines are stimulants and include the hallucinogenic "club
drugs" MDMA (Ecstasy), MDA and MDEA, said Dr. Mark Gold, a distinguished
professor and chief of addiction medicine with UF's Evelyn F. and William
L. McKnight Brain Institute.

Typical effects of methylated amphetamines include increased energy,
wakefulness and a sense of euphoria, but users also can experience chest
pain, shortness of breath, nervous energy and increased risks of anxiety,
depression, Parkinson's disease, liver failure and heart attack, Gold said.

"We believe that many of the overdose cases we're seeing occur when people
use methylated amphetamines and try to medicate the unpleasant effects by
taking depressants such as alcohol, Xanax or Valium," he said. Of the 1,304
drug overdose deaths in Florida last year, 621 involved multiple drugs, and
31 of those involved methylated amphetamines, according to the FDLE.