TO HELP STEM RISING POPULARITY, 'CLUB DRUGS,' TERROR ARE LINKED

Lawmakers around the country kicked off a drug-awareness campaign
Thursday to spread the message that revenues from "club drugs," which
are increasingly popular in all-night raves, frequently support
terrorist networks.

Funded by the federal Drug Enforcement Agency, the national campaign
seeks to inform the public of the physical dangers of Ecstasy and
ketamine - the mainstream drugs sold at many clubs and all-night dance
parties, said Joy Westrum, the National Foundation of Women
Legislators' policy committee private sector co-chairwoman.

With an unspecific timeline and budget, the campaign hopes to improve
drug rehabilitation centers throughout the country and get legislation
passed that would reduce the use of club drugs, Westrum said.

The national campaign is a partnership between the DEA and the
National Foundation of Women Legislators.

Assemblywoman Clare M. Farragher, R-Monmouth, who represents New
Jersey in the national effort, said the state's female legislators
will tour the DEA's Newark headquarters to evaluate the efficacy of
its drug enforcement and reduction policies. She also hopes to visit
schools with former drug users whose dramatic stories may dissuade the
use of club drugs for students who have not faced them yet.

"I know the seriousness of the problem," Farragher said. "There's no
recommended dosage. There are no rules. But there is danger."

Ecstasy use is on the rise. Among 12- to 17-year-olds, 2.8 percent
tried the drug in 2000 compared with 1.8 percent in 1999, according to
the Office of National Drug Control Policy. Among 18- to 25-year-olds,
9.7 percent tried it in 2000 compared with 7.6 percent in 1999.

Farragher said that although the physical dangers associated with club
drugs may not deter some teenagers, she wants to raise awareness of
the link between illegal drugs and terrorism.

"Long before Sept. 11, New Jersey faced increasing illegal-drug
problems, but in the past eight months, the nation has learned how
drug habits often put money into the pockets of terrorist
organizations," she said at a State House news conference.

Because the sale of illegal drugs is undocumented, she said, it is
impossible to determine the amount of American money that funds
terrorist networks through drug sales.