Pubdate: Wed, 01 Aug 2001 Source: The Southeast Missourian (MO) Copyright: 2001, Southeast Missourian Contact: http://www.semissourian.com/opinion/speakout/submit/ Website: http://www.semissourian.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1322 Author: Libby Quaid Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy) CLUB DRUG'S USE NEAR EPIDEMIC PROPORTIONS WASHINGTON -- No longer confined mostly to Los Angeles, Miami and New York, use of the illegal drug Ecstasy is reaching epidemic proportions among teen-agers in the nation's heartland, an educator and Missouri law officers said Tuesday. Kids and even some parents mistakenly believe Ecstasy is safe, educators said during a video teleconference hosted in Washington by the White House's drug policy office, which has begun a $5 million radio and Internet campaign to make people aware of Ecstasy's dangers. "Parents are very uneducated about Ecstasy," said Janet Nease, assistant principal at Park Hill (Mo.) High School. "It's happening right under their noses." Ecstasy is a pill that produces euphoria and dramatically elevates blood pressure, heart rate and body temperature. It can cause heart attacks or strokes and may cause brain damage that is long term or even permanent, said Glen Hanson of the National Institute of Drug Abuse. It gained popularity in the 1990s at all-night dance parties known as raves. In rural areas, kids gather at abandoned barns and machine sheds to use the drug, said U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, who organized the forum. The drug's use in more affluent Kansas City suburbs, such as Blue Springs and Park Hill, is "popping up more so than in the urban core," Graves said. Emergency rooms are also seeing more and more Ecstasy users, and Nease said school officials worry their nurses are unprepared for medical emergencies resulting from the drug's use. As Big A Problem As Meth Ecstasy is becoming as much a problem as methamphetamine, said Dave Barton, director of the government's meth-fighting task force known as the Midwest High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area. "But our funds are very, very limited," Barton said, adding, "Our meth problem has not lessened in any way." The Senate Government Affairs Committee, led by Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., held a hearing Monday on Ecstasy's quick growth. Philip McCarthy, 17, testified he knew nothing of the anger and depression that would hit after Ecstasy's high wore off. Soon he was hooked and stealing televisions and VCRs to support a $300-a-week drug habit. "It was a high I definitely wanted again," said Mc-Carthy. The drug is manufactured mostly in Belgium and The Netherlands. - --- MAP posted-by: Josh Sutcliffe