DRUG WAR HITS HOME IN SWANSBORO

A recent drug exchange, allegedly on campus and involving Swansboro Middle
School students and Ecstasy, has sparked efforts to educate teachers,
parents and the community about the dangers of "rave culture" drugs.

A special agent with the Naval Criminal Investigation Service will talk to
Swansboro Middle teachers and staff in April about Ecstasy - also known as
E, X and Rolls - and similarly used drugs, including LSD, GHB and Ketamine.

A presentation for parents and the community will follow, said Swansboro
Middle School Principal Lori Howard.

As disturbing as it was to learn that two seventh-grade girls allegedly
obtained Ecstasy pills while at school, Howard said "the best course of
action" now is to increase awareness about these dangerous drugs.

"I think it's really important that we share this information," Howard
said. "Because if we don't we damper the community learning about something
that's really important."

The active ingredient in Ecstasy, a synthetically produced narcotic, is
methylene dioxymethamphetamine, or MDMA. Ecstasy is also often laced with
other drugs, such as LSD.

Since the March 6 incident, Howard said she's come to understand why
adolescents might be attracted to Ecstasy, the use of which, according to
drug-education literature, results in an intense high characterized by
extreme feelings of love and acceptance.

Those feelings, Howard points out, are among the emotions teens crave most.

"When you think about middle-schoolers and adolescents, that is a time in
children's lives when they're working so hard to be accepted," Howard said.

But Howard said she hopes the informational meetings will fully explain the
dangers of Ecstasy, which is known to cause long-term brain damage and can
kill upon first use.

The school learned about the incident after two seventh-grade girls became
ill after allegedly taking Ecstasy pills just before spring break. Both
were taken to the hospital and were treated and released that night and are
fine, Howard said.

The girls said that they obtained the pills at school from another
seventh-grade girl, Howard said.

In the two weeks since, Howard said school officials have determined that
the incident involved only those three students, who have since been
disciplined. Still, Howard said she and her staff were "devastated" that it
happened at school, on their watch.

"Everybody A. monitors these students very carefully," Howard said. "All
the adults work very hard building a positive rapport with these children
and that's one of the reasons why I think this was an isolated incident."

The girls' involvement with Ecstasy was upsetting to other students as
well, Howard said.

"Generally, the feeling I get from talking to them is that they don't like
that it happened at school," Howard said. "They like the routine of school,
they like the atmosphere of safety."

The Onslow County Sheriff's Department is investigating the incident but
had not filed any charges as of Wednesday, according to Sheriff Ed Brown.

Although Howard was careful not to identify the girls or specify their
exact punishments, she said the girls involved are "good all-around kids,"
who earn good grades and are good athletes.

The punishment for transmitting drugs or illegal substances on school
grounds is suspension for the remainder of the school year, expulsion, or
transfer to an alternative learning environment, Howard said.

The maximum punishment for receiving illegal substances at school is a
10-day suspension from school, Howard said.

NCIS Supervisory Special Agent Robin Knapp, who will conduct the teacher
training at the school April 10, said the incident is the first he's heard
of involving Ecstasy and middle-school students, but it didn't surprise him.

"We've seen younger kids getting involved in this activity, especially in
the rave scene," Knapp said.

Raves, which are sometimes advertised as alcohol-free parties, feature
high-energy dance music. The events are most popular among older teens and
twenty-somethings but have been known to draw kids as young as 12, Knapp said.

"Club drugs" that have made their mark in Eastern North Carolina include
Ecstasy - taken in power, liquid, pill or capsule form - GHB, also known as
the date-rape drug, LSD, and Ketamine, a cat tranquilizer known by the
street names Special K or K," Knapp said.

But Ecstasy, which made its appearance in the area in the mid-90s, remains
the most common and is "probably the No. 1 illegal substance in the U.S.,"
Knapp said.