ECSTASY USE AMONG TEENS UP 20 PERCENT IN PAST YEAR

WASHINGTON - A national survey of teen-agers found that drug use remained
steady last year with one glaring exception - a rise in the use of Ecstasy
- - an anti-drug organization said Monday. The Partnership for a Drug-Free
America said teen Ecstasy use rose 20 percent in 2001 and has increased 71
percent since 1999.

The figures didn't surprise William J. Walker, director of the Georgetown
County Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission.

"Basically [Ecstasy is] used in conjunction with partying and having a good
time," said Walker, whose public, nonprofit organization provides
counseling, drug screening and outpatient services. "Just like some adults
associate partying with alcohol, that's the same attitude of young people
when they use it."

The Partnership for a Drug-Free America, a coalition of communications
professionals, unveiled an advertising campaign to warn teens and parents
of the dangers of drug use. Many of the ads feature the parents of Danielle
Heird, a 21-year-old Las Vegas woman who died after taking Ecstasy in 2000.

"Don't play Russian roulette with your most precious gift - your life," her
mother, Elsa Heird, said at a news conference.

John Walters, who directs the White House drug policy office, said
anti-drug officials are trying to counter a notion among teens that Ecstasy
is harmless. Ecstasy is believed to cause brain damage.

Walker said most drugs follow a pattern where usage increases until
reaching a peak, then diminishes.

"I think it will run its course until a new one comes around," Walker said.

Ecstasy is a synthetic drug considered part hallucinogen and part
amphetamine, according to officials with Shoreline Behavioral Health
Services in Conway.

It has become popular over the past decade at dance parties known as raves.

But Stephen J. Pasierb, president of the partnership, said Ecstasy appears
to be expanding beyond clubs.

"Ecstasy has moved out of the rave scene and into the mainstream," he said.

The survey of 6,937 teen-agers found that 12 percent of 12- to 18-year-olds
had used Ecstasy at some point in their lives. That compares with 10
percent in 2000. The survey had a margin of error of plus or minus 1.8
percentage points.

Marijuana remains the most popular drug among teens, with 41 percent having
tried it. Inhalants were used by 18 percent, methamphetamines by 11
percent, cocaine or crack by 9 percent and heroin by 4 percent.

Use of both alcohol and tobacco has declined. Fifty-three percent of teens
reported using alcohol during the past year, down from 58 percent in 2000.
For tobacco, 28 percent reported smoking cigarettes in the previous 30
days, compared with 34 percent in the 2000 survey.

Walker said erratic or dramatic changes in behavior, a change in friends or
grades slipping are all signs potential drug use by adolescents.