Pubdate: Sat, 29 Sep 2001
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI)
Copyright: 2001 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Contact:  http://www.jsonline.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/265
Author: Corissa Jansen
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?158 (Club Drugs)

TOUGHER PENALTIES FOR CLUB DRUGS SOUGHT

Measure Proposed By Two State Lawmakers Would Make Possession Of 
Ecstasy A Felony Offense

With club drugs such as Ecstasy gaining in popularity among suburban 
Wisconsin youth, two state lawmakers want to make possession a felony 
offense, carrying penalties similar to those for illegal drugs more 
commonly found in urban areas.

"There should not be a distinction between the dangerous drugs used 
by suburban kids and the dangerous drugs used by kids in inner city 
Milwaukee," said Rep. Gregg Underheim (R-Oshkosh).

Underheim is co-sponsoring a bill that police and drug counselors 
believe also would funnel more young club-drug users into treatment 
if it is enacted. An Assembly committee is to address the measure 
next week.

Possession of club drugs such as methylenedioxymethamphetamine - most 
commonly known by its street name, Ecstasy - is a misdemeanor offense 
in Wisconsin, carrying a maximum penalty of up to $500 in fines or 
confinement in jail for not more than 30 days, or both.

Under the bill proposed by Underheim and state Sen. Jon Erpenbach 
(D-Middleton), possession of the drugs would be a felony offense.

The maximum fine would increase to $5,000, and conviction also would 
carry imprisonment of up to two years.

Because of the high costs associated with the state's growing rave 
scene - tickets to get into the all-night techno dance parties can 
run from $25 to $75, and hits of Ecstasy go for $20 to $25 each - 
club drugs are more a suburban phenomenon than an urban problem, 
according to police and drug counselors.

Affluence Abets Drug Use

And because club drug users often come from affluent families, many 
can easily pay a misdemeanor fine and avoid entering treatment if 
they're caught with the drugs.

"Kids who can afford to pay the fine - who's going to want to sit 
through treatment?" said Madison police Detective George Chavez, who 
speaks to state law enforcement agencies, school officials, drug 
counselors and health care professionals about club drugs and the 
rave scene.

Underheim said Dane County Assistant District Attorney Mary Ellen 
Karst and Chavez, a member of the Dane County Narcotics & Gang Task 
Force, proposed the bill, expressing concern that current penalties 
for Ecstasy are out of line with the potential damage the drug can do.

Ecstasy-related emergency room visits across the country increased 
from 1,143 in 1998 to 2,850 in 1999, according to the U.S. Drug 
Enforcement Administration.

In Madison, the emergency room at St. Mary's Hospital Medical Center 
is "a mess" in the early morning hours after large rave parties in 
the city, said Michael J. Foley, a physician at the hospital.

Ravers come into the emergency room with body temperatures higher 
than 105 degrees with pulses racing. Some go into cardiac arrest or 
must be placed on kidney dialysis.

One young man, 16-year-old Brett Zweifel of Madison, was found dead 
last year after taking a lethal dose of Ecstasy at a Madison rave 
that attracted about 1,000 people.

Ecstasy-related deaths are more prevalent in other parts of the country.

In Florida, for example, there were 234 deaths related to the use of 
club drugs from 1997 to 2000, officials said at a U.S. Senate hearing 
in March.

Abuse Increase 'Amazing'

"It's amazing, the use and the rise that we're seeing," Chavez said 
at a recent conference on the rave scene and club drugs at Waukesha 
Memorial Hospital. "It continues to grow. It's definitely a problem."

Chavez said police are seeing more street-level dealers of Ecstasy in 
the Madison area, peddling a psychoactive and hallucinogenic drug 
that produces a four-to six-hour "roll," or high. In comparison, 
crack cocaine typically produces only about a 30-minute high.

"People are starting to realize they can get more bang for their buck 
out of 'X,' " Chavez said, using a shortened street name for Ecstasy.

Madison police seized 1,000 tablets of Ecstasy concealed in a 
Starburst candy bag in a bust earlier this year. In Milwaukee, 
another dealer, who authorities say is one of the largest known 
Ecstasy distributors in Wisconsin, awaits trial on accusations of 
selling thousands of tablets.

News reports indicate club drugs are spreading beyond Madison and 
Milwaukee, popping up in rural parts of the state, such as Lancaster 
in southwestern Wisconsin. Underheim said raves and the club drugs 
often associated with them also are appearing in the Fox Valley area.

"The law enforcement community is working aggressively to deal with 
the problem," said Underheim. "This bill would give law enforcement 
more tools they need to control the use of this drug."

Dave Poehlmann, a chemical dependency counselor at Waukesha Memorial 
Hospital's Lawrence Center, said young club-drug users are for the 
most part oblivious to the harmful effects of the drugs.

Because Ecstasy alters serotonin levels in the brain, chronic use can 
lead to long-term or permanent damage to parts of the brain critical 
to thought, memory and pleasure, research shows. Many Ecstasy users 
are diagnosed with depression after long-term use.

Poehlmann said increasing the penalties for possession and pushing 
more users into treatment might help curb the growing use of Ecstasy.

"The kids are definitely enamored with it, there's no doubt about 
it," Poehlmann said, agreeing with Chavez's assessment that even 
after kids are arrested on accusations of possessing Ecstasy, they 
still rave about the effects of "the hug drug," which heightens 
users' sensitivity to touch.

"Kids operate under the myth of invincibility," Poehlmann said. "The 
word 'felony' catches their attention."
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MAP posted-by: Josh