Pubdate: Mon, 07 Feb 2000 Source: Lowell Sun (MA) Address: 15 Kearney Square, P.O. Box 1477 Lowell, Massachusetts 01853 Email: http://www.newschoice.com/newspapers/lowell/sun/default.asp Author: JEFF SKRUCK, Sun staff PELHAM POLICE WARN OF 'DESIGNER' DRUG CRAZE PELHAM, N.H. -- Pelham High School principal Barry Connell says he's seen a lot in his 30 years as an educator and very little shocks him anymore. But when he first learned of the sharp rise in the use of designer drugs such as Ecstasy among Pelham teens and his students, he was frightened. "This scares me," said Connell last night before a group of parents at the high school. "Very little scares me," Police officers spoke last week to more than a dozen parents who came to learn of relatively new designer drugs such as Ecstasy that has become popular in Pelham as it has in suburban communities throughout the country. "It's a problem that's facing our department," said acting Police Chief Evan Haglund, citing that 40 percent of drug arrests this year involved possession and distribution of designer drugs. "Many years ago it used to be marijuana ... then Ecstasy. (Users) think there's nothing wrong with it." Not so, according to community policing Officer Joe McDowell, who works out of the high school part time. Ecstasy, chemically known as MDMA, can produce stimulant effects like methamphetamine and hallucinogenic effects like mescaline. About 20 minutes after ingesting it -- it usually comes in a pill that looks very much like aspirin -- Ecstasy produces a euphoric high, giving the user an almost out-of-body experience. The six-hour high is followed by deep depression that can last for several days and even psychotic episodes in some cases. Speaking on the social and criminal ramifications, McDowell noted that an arrest for possession of Ecstasy is a Class B Felony. "It's going to haunt them when they go to college," McDowell said, citing the inability to qualify for financial aid and many scholarships for student with a felony criminal record. McDowell added that there is no profile for a typical Ecstasy user. "You'd be surprised who's involved with this, from athletes to run of the mill students to those in the honor society," he said. Key signs that someone has taken Ecstasy include fully dilated pupils, fidgeting and constant licking of one's lips because of dehydration. Other physical effects include an increased heart rate and blood pressure, teeth clenching, nausea, blurred vision and chills or sweating. When manufacturing Ecstasy -- which can be learned from recipes available on the Internet -- it is often mixed with other drugs such as cocaine and heroin, McDowell said. For many parents the seminar was an eye-opener and it generated several questions about the drug, which started gaining popularity in the late 1980s. "I thought it was pretty informative," Ellen Grant said after the meeting. "I basically just want to know what to look for." "Some of us may not have run into to this yet, but we hear of it from our kids," she said. - --- MAP posted-by: Don Beck