Pubdate: Thu, 17 Jan 2002
Source: Detroit Free Press (MI)
Copyright: 2002 Detroit Free Press
Contact:  http://www.freep.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/125
Author: Marsha Low, Free Press Staff Writer

HIGH LIFE LURES METRO KIDS

Cops, Educators Told Ecstasy Hands-Down Favorite

Josh Kushnereit took his first sip of alcohol and his first hit of pot at 
age 10.

By 15 he was immersed in the club scene, attending raves in Detroit's 
abandoned buildings and warehouses. There he would roll on ecstasy, crystal 
meth and ketamine until the sun rose.

Every waking moment was consumed by his chase for the next fix.

Stories like Kushnereit's are becoming familiar with many of the 600 police 
officers, educators, drug enforcement agents and counselors who gathered in 
Southfield on Wednesday to discuss the growing popularity of ecstasy and 
the drug scene.

"It was an escape that made me feel comfortable and accepted," said 
Kushnereit, 17, of Rochester Hills. "During that time my family was 
nonexistent. I was getting high at lunch. I had no morals or self-respect. 
My life was about getting high, and raves were a place where you could eat 
drugs and be OK."

When Kushnereit's life crashed he was admitted to Pathway Family Center in 
Southfield, a long-term treatment program for teens addicted to drugs or 
alcohol.

He's been clean for two years. He earned all A's in school last year. And 
now he has dreams for the future and hopes to attend college.

But he is one of few who manage to escape the clutch of drugs, experts said.

Drug use among teens is on the rise across the country and ecstasy is the 
hands-down favorite, experts at the conference said.

The aspirin-sized pill is used predominantly by white, suburban teens, said 
David Gauvin, a Washington, D.C.-based drug science officer for the Drug 
Enforcement Administration.

An average teen user will swallow five ecstasy pills a night and be high 
for eight to 12 hours.

The effect: heightened senses. And users will stop at nothing to enhance 
the high.

To tantalize the sense of smell, teens wear masks smeared with Vicks 
VapoRub. Pacifiers and lollipops are chewed and sucked to alleviate teeth 
grinding -- a side effect. Electronic and techno music is played loudly to 
stimulate the eardrums and body with thumping sound waves. And the desire 
for touch will have teens stroking, massaging and having sex with other 
party goers.

"Diseases are being spread in these clubs because there's a lot of sharing 
and sexual activity," Gauvin said.

Ecstasy use results in temporary impotence in men, and police are beginning 
to see Viagra at clubs and raves. Teens are stealing it from parents and 
drug dealers are distributing it, creating a new market for the popular 
prescription drug, Gauvin says.

Also alarming is the emergence of the predator -- older men who attend 
raves and drug parties to prey on teens high on ecstasy and longing for 
physical stimulation, said Ken Krygel, a retired drug enforcement officer 
for the Detroit Police Department who continues to investigate drug parties.

Michigan educators say that despite the absence of local data about 
adolescent drug use, anecdotally they know that narcotics are easy to 
obtain and that more kids are using them.

Last year, 62 percent of high school teens across the country said ecstasy 
is easy to find and buy at $20 to $30 a tablet, Gauvin says. That's not a 
surprise when only 30 percent of the ecstasy being distributed, or 11 
million pills, was confiscated by drug enforcement officers in 2001, he says.

Teens are creative about hiding the drug. The most common tactics include 
mixing the pills in large bags of Skittles or M&M's or melting Tootsie 
Rolls in a microwave, placing the ecstasy pills inside and reshaping the candy.

"This is not going away," said Myrna Baugh, a counselor at Anderson High 
School in Southgate. "Every year things get worse. Kids are using at school 
and at parties. This is our future and I'm here to find out how we stop 
from having a brain-dead future."

Medical studies show that ecstasy use kills brain cells immediately, 
causing memory loss and difficulty concentrating. It depletes the body of 
serotonin, leading doctors to anticipate a surge in depression among this 
generation by 2010. Body temperature rises -- 115 degrees is the highest 
temperature linked to ecstasy use. When things go really wrong the drug can 
cause uncontrollable bleeding, the blood to congeal, cardiovascular 
collapse and even death.

Still, many teens are willing to take the chance.

"Normal adolescent behavior means a teen will search for their identity and 
take a lot of risks," said Lisa Pangrazzi, an addiction counselor for 
Pathway. "The ones who become addicted feel lonely, and getting high is an 
easy way to alleviate that pain. It's also an easy way to get accepted by a 
peer group because all you've got to do is drink something, smoke something 
or swallow a pill."

For information, call the Prevention Coalition of Southeast Michigan at 
586-466-5030.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom