Pubdate: Mon, 22 May 2000
Source: Chicago Sun-Times (IL)
Copyright: 2000 The Sun-Times Co.
Contact:  401 N. Wabash, Chicago IL 60611
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Author: Art Golab

TEEN DRUG ALERT

A suburban teen who died last week from an overdose of what she thought was
the rave drug ecstasy appears to be the first U.S. victim of a more powerful
and dangerous form of the drug, prompting officials to warn of the new
drug's emergence in the area.

And another suburban teen who died earlier this month may also have
overdosed on the same more dangerous drug.

Both 18-year-old Sara Aeschlimann of Naperville and 17-year-old Steve Lorenz
of McHenry died within the last two weeks after taking pills sold as
ecstasy, or MDMA.

Now police say the drug Aeschlimann took was really PMA, a similar, more
potent hallucinogenic drug that has caused fatalities in Canada and
Australia but which has not turned up in significant amounts in the United
States.

"It's a problem in middle-class and upper-class suburbs rather than the
inner city," said Michael Hillebrand of the Chicago Drug Enforcement
Administration office.

"MDMA is bad; PMA is much worse."

The pill Lorenz took before he died was identical in appearance to
Aeschlimann's, but authorities are still awaiting tests to see if it is PMA,
otherwise known as paramethoxyamphetamine.

Both pills were sold as ecstasy, a mildly hallucinogenic, mood-altering
stimulant that has recently surged in popularity, especially among affluent
teens and young adults.

Naperville police Sgt. Ray McGury, who is investigating Aeschlimann's death,
said, "It's probably one of the most popular drugs among teens."

What's made it popular is the drug's ability to produce a euphoric feeling,
as well as suppress the need to eat, drink and sleep. These properties have
made it the drug of choice in nightclubs and at "raves," clandestine dance
parties that go all night long.

Studies have shown regular use of ecstasy can lead to memory loss and damage
to brain cells that regulate mood, sleep and appetite. MDMA also speeds up
the heartbeat and causes involuntary grinding of the teeth. However, the
drug rarely is fatal.

The same cannot be said for PMA.

It claimed nine lives in Toronto in 1973, the first recorded fatalities. At
least six more died when the drug resurfaced in Australia in the late '90s.

And in recent months, PMA has started to turn up in the United States, but
Hillebrand knows of no confirmed fatalities other than the Naperville case.

Though more powerful than ecstasy, PMA doesn't take effect as quickly,
encouraging users to overdose. When PMA does kick in, it can raise the body
temperature up to 106 degrees in people who overdose.

"You literally cook from the inside out," Hillebrand said. Convulsions and
death follow.

In the Naperville case, the PMA tablets sold were identical to ecstasy
tablets making the rounds in the area, McGury said. And it's not just PMA
that's being substituted for ecstasy.

A DEA study of tablets found only half contained MDMA. Others had various
combinations of amphetamines and the animal tranquilizer ketamine.

"Ecstasy's popularity is troubling enough," said McGury. "But I am more
concerned about the fact that kids think they're taking ecstasy when they
may not be. . . . They're playing Russian roulette."
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