Pubdate: Tue, 06 Apr 2004 Source: Daily Herald (IL) Copyright: 2004 The Daily Herald Company Contact: http://www.dailyherald.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/107 Author: Tona Kunz, Daily Herald Staff Writer ANTI-DRUG 'PROJECT X' BEGINS ON DUPAGE CAMPUSES The latest battleground where the war against Ecstasy and other club drugs will be waged is college campuses. Local officials say about 10 percent of college students use the drugs, and they expect more to pick up the habit as the drugs become easier to get. "I think that in a few months, we will see more of it," said Michael Cooke, director of the DuPage Metropolitan Enforcement Group. To try to curb use, Gov. Rod Blagojevich has picked nine areas in the state to share $500,000 for campus prevention programs. DuPage and DeKalb are the only counties in Northern Illinois picked to join the "Project X" initiative, which kicks off today with televised public service announcements and visits to area campuses. Getting that message across now is crucial, before drug usage returns to the peak levels of 2000, officials said. In 2000, 269 people were treated in suburban emergency rooms for club drugs, according to the Drug Abuse Warning Network. Police departments were reporting teenage dealers who could unload 1,000 pills a day each. Recent Ecstasy busts in Aurora and Geneva, as well as anecdotal evidence from area police and health officials, point to a repeat of 2000. "It is on its way," said Jennifer Redmond, an outreach specialist with Breaking Free Inc., a substance abuse clinic in Naperville that will work with North Central College in Naperville. "We are beginning to see, unfortunately, some signs of Ecstasy use and date-rape drugs on our campuses, as are other campuses," said Gary Ireland, dean of students at North Central College. College drug prevention programs in the past were aimed at other drugs that made it noticeably difficult to stay in college, such as heroin and cocaine. "They can do (club drugs) on the weekend and function on Monday," said Lora Windsor, counselor for Breaking Free. "But I don't know how long they will stay in school." Officials hope the new education campaign will succeed where others have failed because it will have an extra message. "Get out of it now, because there are only two destinations: the graveyard or the penitentiary,'" DuPage County State's Attorney Joseph Birkett said. Birkett fought to toughen penalties for dealers in fatal drug overdoses after the 2000 death of Sara Aeschlimann, an 18-year-old Naperville Central senior who overdosed on PMA, an Ecstasy look-alike drug. A month later, 20-year-old Jason Burnett of Lisle also overdosed on PMA. In 2002, Illinois reduced from 200 to 15 the number of pills needed to qualify as a felony, punishable by six to 30 years in prison, Birkett said. The new law also allows prosecutors to charge someone with drug-induced homicide even if they only gave the victim one pill. On Monday, a Lake County judge sentenced a 27-year-old man to 20 years in prison for the drug overdose death of 19-year-old Nicole LeVin. Joshua Boand of Barrington was convicted of giving LeVin a fatal dose of methadone and stood by and did nothing when it was clear she needed help. Officials fear the end is near for the drop in supply of club drugs brought on by increased security after Sept. 11. "The teens I work with can't seem to comprehend the dangers of taking a pill," Windsor said. "I think we learn if you want to feel better you take a pill. It is part of our culture. It just naturally follows that the drug of choice would be a pill." Also receiving grants were College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Elmhurst College and Benedictine University in Lisle. The Ben Gordon Center, a substance abuse clinic in Sycamore, got a grant to work with Northern Illinois University in DeKalb and Kishwaukee College in Malta. Project X: Campaign also stresses legal price - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake