ECSTASY USE IS GROWING, AS MANY IGNORE RISK OF PERMANENT BRAIN DAMAGE

On the evening of Jan. 5, three Monroe County teen-agers allegedly showed
up at the Walworth Post Office hoping to make some money selling about
$4,000 worth of ecstasy.

The buyer, however, was an undercover cop.

Wayne County sheriff's deputies said they recovered a sizable quantity of
the popular street drug, which is showing up in the Finger Lakes with
increasing frequency. The undercover deal was for 50 tablets, and deputies
said another 170 were found in their car.

Methylenedioxymethamphetamine - the formal name for MDMA or ecstasy - is a
decades-old recreational drug that acts as both a stimulant and
hallucinogen. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says it can cause
numerous side effects, including depression after use, hallucinations and
sweating.

The DEA believes it is attractive to young drug users because it produces
profoundly positive feelings, empathy for others, elimination of anxiety
and extreme relaxation.

It has been around the Finger Lakes for about four years, said Dusti
Rhodes, Yates County education coordinator for the Council on Alcoholism
and Other Chemical Dependencies of the Finger Lakes.

Ecstasy is one of several drugs known to be used at all-night parties
called raves, in nightclubs and at rock concerts.

In Wayne County, it appeared first on the western side of the county but is
spreading east, said sheriff's Lt. Rick House.

"The kids love it because of the high. The dealers like it because it's a
huge money-maker. Very lucrative. And that is why it's so popular," House said.

Most of the round, white pills are made in Canada, he said, where dealers
can buy them for $4 to $6 per tablet and then sell them for $16 to $25.

Local sheriff's departments say they don't know of any local raves, and the
Walworth bust is the only ecstasy arrest on record.

"It's becoming the drug of choice in the schools (and for users in their)
late teens and early 20s," House said. "Now we're finding that it's even
reaching the junior high kids."

Only a small percentage of drug users assisted by Finger Lakes Addiction
Counseling & Referral Agency have admitted to ecstasy use. Youth counselor
Helen Passalacqua said about 6 percent of teens who go through FLACRA, and
about 3 percent of the adults, used ecstasy.

Passalacqua said most of the ecstasy users with whom she comes into contact
are not addicts, although even recreational use can be dangerous, and it is
possible to become addicted.

She said ecstasy use gradually reduces the amount of a brain chemical
called serotonin, which affects various functions, such as learning,
sleeping, and regulation of emotion.

Passalacqua said treatment for repeated abuse of ecstasy can take 10 weeks
to six months. Some patients may spend time in a hospital detoxification unit.

Passalacqua said some young people mistakenly believe ecstasy is not dangerous.

But, FLACRA senior counselor Diane Hall says it is since it can cause
permanent brain damage.

According to a National Institute on Drug Abuse survey in 2000, 10 percent
of high school seniors had tried ecstasy.

A 17-year-old store clerk in Arcadia, who declined to give her name, said
she hasn't noticed ecstasy use among her peers.

"No, not at all," she said, adding that she heard that ecstasy was
available at a local party about three or four years ago, but she hasn't
heard anything about it in the community since then.

A Geneva High School student, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity,
said he isn't hearing that his peers are using ecstasy. However, he
believes it is readily available and he's concerned about it.

"It's really foolish for anyone to experiment with this," he said.

Passalacqua agreed that ecstasy and other drugs are easily attainable.

House said the three teens who were arrested in Walworth were selling
ecstasy heavily in Irondequoit, Webster, Walworth and Macedon. Sean Emrich,
19, of Churchville; and Tod J. Servis, 19, of Webster, were charged with
fifth-degree criminal sale and criminal possession of a controlled
substance. Rachael L. Heinlien, 18, of Rochester, was charged with
fifth-degree conspiracy.

House said their arrests put a major dent in the local ecstasy trade for a
while, but there's always another dealer ready to take over.