Pubdate: Sun, 15 Apr 2001
Source: Chicago Tribune (IL)
Copyright: 2001 Chicago Tribune Company
Contact:  http://www.chicagotribune.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/82
Author: Leslie R. Goldman, Special to the Tribune
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy)

CLUB DRUGS

They Can Be Difficult To Detect In Teens, Especially When The Clues Seem So 
Benign

Your 15-year-old daughter returns from a friend's house smelling like 
blueberries; you think, "Girls today, dousing themselves in these crazy 
fruity scents."

Your 17-year-old son carries a half-filled water bottle when he leaves for 
the night; you think, "Wow, he must be pretty dehydrated from basketball 
practice."

Your college freshman, home for spring break, fishes his retainer from his 
nightstand after a two-year sabbatical; you think, "He's finally taken an 
interest in proper oral health care."

But what you don't know is your daughter may be drinking engine degreaser, 
your son is downing capfuls of a date-rape-like drug, and your college 
kid's Ecstasy use is grinding away three years' worth of orthodontia. In 
other words, you might think your teenager has avoided the lure of club 
drugs, but you'd be wrong.

Teenagers are known to exhibit unusual behavior even when drug-free. But a 
combination of increased availability and low perceived harm of club drugs 
such as Ecstasy (3-4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, or MDMA,) GHB 
(gammahydroxybutyrate) and Ketamine (a veterinary anesthetic) has yielded a 
dramatic increase in use among teens. What's more, their indulgence often 
is far less obvious than that betrayed by the bloodshot eyes of pot or the 
stink of booze.

'I don't do drugs, I just do Ecstasy'

"I've heard, 'I don't do drugs, I just do Ecstasy,' more times than I can 
count," said Theresa Lacey, a Loyola University freshman and volunteer 
coordinator for the Chicago chapter of DanceSafe, a not-for-profit 
harm-reduction organization promoting safety within the rave and nightclub 
community. Raves are massive dance parties that may involve club drugs. 
"Many kids don't think it's a drug because it's not messy. Nothing is going 
up their nose or in a vein; there's none of the conventional social 
construction of what a drug is."

Dr. Jerrold Leikin, associate medical director of emergency services at 
Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center, described club drugs as a 
growing menace that is just starting to catch parents' attention. Helping 
attract that attention are well publicized overdoses, such as the March 17 
death of 20-year-old James C. Roberts III of Dayton, Ohio, who died after a 
party in Rosemont.

"There's an almost unlimited amount of substances that can be abused out 
there," Leikin said. "Parents need to have a heightened suspicion of any 
aberrant behavior by a child or teenager."

Mood swings, slurred speech and academic slumps, he said, are typical 
warning signs; less obvious may be the aforementioned retainer use to 
correct shifting caused by bruxism (tooth grinding), a common Ecstasy side 
effect.

Surveying more than 45,000 high school students, the National Institute on 
Drug Abuse's 2000 Monitoring the Future study found that although overall 
illicit drug use has remained stable or decreased during the last four 
years, Ecstasy is one of the few drugs showing a statistically significant 
increase from 1999 to 2000. Eleven percent of high school seniors reported 
having tried Ecstasy at least once, up from 8 percent the previous year. 
Its perceived availability also increased.

Teens can easily buy pills and tonics from nutrition stores or over the 
Internet, perfectly legal substances that produce the same effects as 
common club drugs. For instance, Leikin said, certain muscle-building and 
sleep-enhancing supplements contain a substance called GBL, which upon 
ingestion converts to GHB. Also called Liquid G, GHB is a salty, odorless 
liquid that can cause everything from mild hallucinations and euphoria to 
retrograde amnesia, coma and respiratory failure.

Last New Year's, a 19-year-old Downers Grove woman almost died after 
ingesting GBL in the form of Verve, an auto degreaser that can smell like 
artificial blueberry.

Paraphernalia includes pacifiers

Steve Svoboda, DanceSafe's Chicago liaison, listed certain paraphernalia 
that could suggest club drug use, including pacifiers (to relieve 
clenching,) Vicks VapoRub (Ecstasy enhances sensations of smell, taste and 
touch,) or 5-HTP, a supplement taken to offset Ecstasy-induced depression 
the day after. But Svoboda was quick to point out that club drugs are not 
confined to the rave community.

Nevertheless, in mid-March, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley advocated stiffened 
penalties for building owners who knowingly permit raves where illegal 
drugs are sold and used. The proposal was in reaction to the recent trend 
of rave promoters moving parties from illegal warehouses to legitimate 
entertainment venues, thus evading current ordinances.

"If your kid goes to raves, that doesn't mean he does drugs," Svoboda said, 
however. "I would say there are less under-the-influence party kids at 
raves than there are . . . at bars, clubs or even Cubs games."

In an attempt to screen out potentially lethal substances mixed into 
Ecstasy, such as speed or DXM (an active ingredient in cough suppressant,) 
DanceSafe has provided free pill-testing booths at Chicago-area venues, 
including the Harvey Expo Center. Svoboda acknowledged that although 
abstinence would be ideal, "the kid with pill in hand, ready to consume, 
obviously is ignoring every abstinence message the government or concerned 
parents can provide. All we can do is wind up discouraging them from taking 
it by telling them it's not what they expected."

And sometimes the issue isn't just the damage that a drug can do to a body 
but also what can befall someone who is under the influence of the drugs.

So DanceSafe talks with teens (particularly adolescent females and gay 
males) about the risk of sexual assault, which is heightened by drugs such 
as Ecstasy and GHB.

Lacey explained that Ecstasy tends to lower inhibitions and increase trust 
between strangers and that GHB can cause amnesia, both opening the doorway 
to becoming a victim.

And that, according to DanceSafe and others trying to get the word out, 
would be good not to forget.

TERMS THAT CAN MAKE YOUR HEAD SPIN

The lexicon of club drugs can be as confusing as the symptoms of use.

Here is a primer on terms:

- - Bumps: Ketamine powder is snorted in the form of bumps.

- - Caps: GHB is ingested orally, usually from the cap of a water bottle.

- - G-ing out: overdosing on GHB.

- - K-Hole: Achieving the out-of-body experience and hallucinations produced 
by Ketamine, during which it may be very difficult to move.

- - P.L.U.R.: A common mantra at raves, stands for "Peace, Love, Unity, Respect."

- - Rolling: While on Ecstasy, the user may experience waves of pleasurable 
feelings.

Common names for club drugs:

- - Ecstasy: X, E, MDMA, rolls.

- - GHB: G, Liquid G.

- - Ketamine: K, Special K, Vitamin K
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D