Pubdate: Sat, 24 Aug 2002 Source: Austin American-Statesman (TX) Copyright: 2002 Austin American-Statesman Contact: http://www.austin360.com/statesman/editions/today/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/32 Author: Alex Taylor Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/raves.htm (Raves) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth) A POISONED EUPHORIA, A FATAL ECSTASY More people are using the potentially deadly drug, and most of the users are young people. While thousands of young partygoers were dancing in a rural nightclub in Travis County last weekend, a deadly chemical reaction was occurring in 22-year-old Jason Scheiring's body. The Travis County medical examiner's office ruled Friday that Scheiring died Sunday after overdosing on four blue pills of Ecstasy. The drugs apparently caused Scheiring's heart to beat abnormally, hampering blood flow to other organs, deputy medical examiner Elizabeth Peacock said. Scheiring, a former Army specialist at Fort Hood who lived most recently in Corpus Christi, was the second person to die of an Ecstasy overdose this year in Travis County, according to the medical examiner's office. Last year, the medical examiner's office found traces of the drug in five of the 595 bodies it autopsied from Travis County. The drug isn't new, and deaths related to it are rare, but it is generating renewed concerns among drug enforcement agencies and law officers. They say Ecstasy use is rising, and they are seeing younger users. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, more than 10 percent of high school seniors nationwide have taken Ecstasy at least once. "It's everywhere," said Cmdr. Robert Dahlstrom, head of organized- crime investigations for the Austin police. "It's a very popular drug among younger kids and young adults, although not as big as pot. We have a huge college town with a big entertainment district. So a lot of people are selling it, from the preppiest college kids to street dealers. We've got big shipments coming into Houston from the Netherlands and Holland." According to U.S. Customs, Ecstasy seizures at America's borders were negligible in 1995. By 1997, 400,000 pills were confiscated. In 1999, 3.4 million pills were found, and in 2000, the last year for which records have been released, 9.3 million pills were confiscated. The Drug Enforcement Administration considers Dallas to be one of the country's major distribution points, along with New York, Los Angeles and San Diego. What It Is Ecstasy is a central nervous system stimulant also known as MDMA (methylenedioxy-methamphetamine). It makes the body feel good, it makes the mind think that nothing can go wrong, and it often conjures feelings of empathy and closeness -- what psychologists call an entactogen-empathogen. "It goes throughout your body in the blood system and has a stimulant effect, a euphoric effect," said Pat Crocker, chief of emergency medicine for Brackenridge Hospital. "It's generally in the same class as other amphetamines but has other effects: a heightened sense of feel; it enhances the perception of color." First patented by the German pharmaceutical company Merck in 1913, the drug was never widely used or marketed until the 1980s. In 1985, it was listed as a Schedule I illegal narcotic, the same classification as heroin, opium and cocaine. The most common form of the drug is a pill, although it may also be bought in liquid form or in nickel-sized wafers. The pills are typically about the size of an aspirin, and they sell on the street for $10 to $30 a hit. The pills are often colorful, decorated with popular logos or designs. Local confiscations have turned up pills bearing the Nike swoosh. Ninety percent of the world's supply of the drug is manufactured in the Netherlands, Holland and Belgium, according to a 2001 congressional report. Israeli and Russian crime syndicates are responsible for trafficking the drug into the United States, the report said. Ecstasy Culture What shocks some authorities the most is who is buying the drug, which is increasingly found at all-night mass dance parties called raves, such as the one Scheiring was attending when he collapsed and died. That night, state agents arrested five people on charges of selling Ecstasy outside the rave. Of those admitted into U.S. hospitals for Ecstasy-related treatment in 2000, 80 percent were under 25, according to the Drug Abuse Warning Network. Increasingly, Ecstasy users are younger, authorities say. "I was at one rave recently where you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone over 20," said Nick Nargi, a narcotics agent here for the Drug Enforcement Administration. With the fast-paced music and the vigorous dancing that raves are famous for, some people quickly overheat. Ecstasy keeps the user from feeling too hot or dehydrated, which authorities say can be more dangerous than the drug itself. "The jury is out on how toxic the drug is. The environment you're in when you're involved in the rave situation is the problem," said Rod McCutcheon, forensic toxicologist for the Travis County medical examiner's office. "A large number of people and a lot of dancing, sometimes with the temperature inside and activity, people overheat and get dehydrated." Moderate use of the drug can result in long-term brain damage. Studies by the National Institute of Mental Health in 1998 showed that repeated use resulted in damage to neurons in the brain that produce serotonin, a central brain chemical involved in learning, sleep and the integration of emotions. "It's one of the few drugs out there that we feel we can say actually does cause physical damage to the brain," said Dr. John Keppler, clinical director of the Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse. "There's a lot of hyperbole in the world of research, and people are quick to say the sky is falling, but unfortunately with this one the sky is falling, especially for anyone in the developmental stage, under 21. . . . It's up there, if not the most damaging (drug) to the central nervous system and the brain cells." - --- MAP posted-by: Jackl