Increase in Use of "Club Drug" Ecstasy Poses Growing Risk

(Efforts to curtail trafficking and abuse find success, need
expansion) (1,080)
By Luke Johnson
Washington File Staff Writer 

Washington -- The recreational drug Ecstasy is fast becoming a problem
with global implications, as growth in use and trafficking expand at
alarming rates, according to law enforcement authorities. While
international efforts to curtail the production and shipment of the
drug are meeting success, additional domestic and international
efforts are needed to halt the explosive growth in the abuse of this
drug, also known as MDMA.

More than 2.1 million tablets of MDMA were seized at the Los Angeles
International Airport July 26 in what U.S. authorities are calling the
biggest MDMA bust ever. Federal agents intercepted the drug shipment,
with an estimated street value of $40 million, upon its arrival on an
Air France flight from Paris. Three men were arrested in connection
with the contraband.

The drug 3,4-methylenedioxy methamphetamine (MDMA) is a synthetic
substance, ingested in pill-form which also goes under the names X,
Adam, and E. It is used primarily by teenagers and young adults at
raves -- transient, all night, techno-music dance parties. MDMA gives
the user a "high" by affecting the body's serotonin system, which
governs mood and body temperature. Also called the "hug drug," ravers
take MDMA to alter their perceptions, to dance longer and to lower
their inhibitions.

Part of MDMA's popularity is rooted in users' belief that it has no
ill effects, but Alan Leshner, director of the National Institute on
Drug Abuse (NIDA) says otherwise. "While users of 'club drugs' may
think they're taking them simply for energy to keep on dancing or
partying, research shows these drugs can have long-lasting negative
effects," said Leshner at a July 25 congressional hearing on the
growing MDMA problem.

Evidence that MDMA does, in fact, pose serious health risks is
mounting. In the short term, MDMA puts users at risk for dehydration,
hypertension and kidney failure through increasing the heart rate,
blood pressure and body temperature. These effects are exacerbated by
the rave environment, marked by crowded dance floors, warm
temperatures and a lack of facilities.

"The biggest short-term threat of MDMA is the ability to overload the
heart, precipitating heart attacks or strokes, depending on the age of
the user," said Donald Vereen, Jr., deputy director of the Office of
National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) at the same Capitol Hill event.

MDMA is also a neurotoxin, causing a variety of adverse effects,
including "long-lasting, perhaps permanent damage to the neurons that
release serotonin, and consequent memory loss," continued Vereen.
According to the ONDCP official, MDMA can also cause "mental
confusion, anxiety and panic attacks, depression and paranoia."

Despite these dangers, use of MDMA in the U.S. has skyrocketed over
the past year, and consumption has spread beyond the rave scene to
include smaller cities and more rural areas. U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA) reporting "indicates widespread abuse within
virtually every major U.S. city with indications of trafficking and
abuse expanding to smaller cities" like Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and
Montgomery, Alabama, said DEA Chief of Operations Richard Fiano.

The exponential growth in seizures of the drug by DEA and U.S. Customs
Service officers clearly illustrates the seriousness of the MDMA
threat. According to the Federal Drug Identification Network (FDIN)
database, MDMA totaling 1,221,032 tablets-worth was seized in 1998,
while 12,144,319 tablets-worth of the drug was seized in 1999 -- a
ten-fold increase in MDMA seizures over a one year period.

Most MDMA is manufactured in small, clandestine "kitchen labs" in the
Netherlands or Belgium, and is then shipped to various U.S. ports of
entry via couriers and mail carriers like DHL, UPS and the U.S. Postal
Service. Despite its European manufacture, Israeli organized crime
syndicates ship most of the MDMA available in the US, according to the
DEA. Mexican, Colombian and Dominican drug trafficking organizations
are also becoming involved in the MDMA trade.

The tablets -- produced at very low cost, and sold to users for
anywhere between $20 and $40 -- offer a very high profit margin. Fiano
said that the small size of the MDMA tablets makes smuggling and
concealment "much easier than other traditional drugs smuggled in
kilogram-sized packages." Smugglers can carry anywhere from 10,000 to
20,000 tablets on their person and up to 50,000 tablets in specially
designed luggage.

A number of U.S. and international efforts to stall the expansion of
MDMA use and trade are currently under way. In the U.S. Congress,
bills are being considered that would significantly stiffen penalties
for MDMA manufacture, distribution and use.

MDMA is also included in a special DEA enforcement program targeting
the so-called "club drugs," recreational intoxicants used by young
adults. They include a wide-range of substances, such as amphetamines,
barbituates and animal tranquilizers.

In the international arena, the U.S. is a part of enforcement efforts
with other countries at many levels. Heightened European efforts in
decreasing MDMA trafficking have lead to increased interception of the
drug. In Belgium, and in particular, the Netherlands, MDMA seizures
have risen dramatically, according to the DEA.

Rand Beers, assistant secretary of state for the Bureau for International Narcotics
and Law Enforcement Affairs, emphasized the importance of
international cooperation such as a U.S.-EU agreement on chemical
substances and the "excellent relationship" between U.S. and Dutch
enforcement agencies.

Among the many other multinational efforts are the DEA-chaired, MDMA
working group comprised of American, German, Dutch, Belgian and
Israeli officials. The U.S. has also committed funds to the United
Nations' International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) and the UN Drug
Control Program (UNDCP). The primary goals of these and other
international initiatives are to curtail the trafficking in and
production of MDMA, as well as illegal diversion of MDMA's component
chemicals.

According to Beers, the diversion of precursor chemicals is key to the
production of illicit synthetic drugs like MDMA. As such, monitoring
the sales and transport of these component chemicals in the
MDMA-producing Benelux nations is a vital part of enforcement
initiatives.

As the demand for MDMA continues to expand, so too do the many
national and multinational efforts to curb the production and
trafficking in the drug. Clearly, the answer to this growing problem
lies in what Beers called "cooperative efforts against Ecstasy, both
domestically and internationally."

(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International
Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site:
http://usinfo.state.gov)