Pubdate: Tue, 19 Dec 2000
Source: Saint Paul Pioneer Press (MN)
Copyright: 2000 St. Paul Pioneer Press
Contact:  345 Cedar St., St. Paul, MN 55101
Website: http://www.pioneerplanet.com/
Forum: http://www.pioneerplanet.com/watercooler/
Author: Hannah Allam

ECSTASY CITED IN 5 AREA DEATHS

Once `Club Drug' Is Now In Mainstream

The use of the drug ecstasy in the Twin Cities continues to increase, with 
five metro-area deaths attributed to the ``club drug'' this year, according 
to a Hazelden report to be released today.

The upward trend in ecstasy use mirrors what is happening across the 
nation, as what have been traditionally ``club drugs'' move into the 
mainstream. The Hennepin Regional Poison Center received 42 ecstasy-related 
calls from January to mid-November, according to the Hazelden report 
compiled every six months by Carol Falkowski.

Falkowski recently attended a conference in San Francisco, where 
researchers from across the country reported that so-called ``designer 
drugs'' are still largely restricted to clubs and ``rave'' parties. The use 
of these drugs -- including LSD, GHB and GBL -- is far more widespread in 
the Twin Cities, she said. Four people died after overdosing on ecstasy, 
the drug was listed as a contributing factor in a homicide and an Apple 
Valley teen-ager under the influence of LSD was shot and wounded by police.

A growing number of people of color are also trying ecstasy -- a trend 
reflected in both nationwide and local statistics. Until recently, 
researchers described ecstasy as a drug used primarily by white suburban 
youths. Recently, black-themed magazines such as ``Vibe'' have published 
articles on ecstasy and references to the drug have cropped up in some of 
the latest rap lyrics. The deaths in Hennepin County of two black men, each 
in his 20s, were attributed to ecstasy.

Six months ago, Falkowski's report focused on heroin's unseating of cocaine 
as the deadliest drug in the Twin Cities. Heroin remains cheaper and purer 
than ever in Hennepin County, although fatal overdoses in Ramsey County 
fell from 20 in 1999 to 11 during the first nine months of this year. There 
were 36 opiate-related deaths in Hennepin County, compared to 27 in 1999.

``Heroin seems to be happening in Minneapolis,'' Falkowski said. ``We 
aren't really seeing that in Ramsey County. We're seeing things we've never 
seen before in Minneapolis.''

Methamphetamine has retained a large Twin Cities presence, with a total of 
eight deaths attributed to the drug in Ramsey, Dakota and Hennepin 
counties. Statewide, 119 meth labs were dismantled by the Drug Enforcement 
Administration, up from 109 in 1999 and 46 in 1998.

This is the 30th report Falkowski has completed for the Hazelden 
Foundation, a nonprofit agency based in Center City that studies 
alcoholism, drug addiction and related diseases.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart