Pubdate: Thu, 18 Apr 2002
Source: Daily Star, The (NY)
Copyright: 2002 The Daily Star
Contact:  http://www.thedailystar.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/557
Author: Jill Fahy

COP: DEADLY DRUGS FOR SALE ON INTERNET

Using the Internet to buy drugs that can kill you is easy, said a Sidney 
state police lieutenant who is investigating last weekend's overdose death 
of 18-year-old Phillip Conklin.

"It's as easy as anything you want to find out on the Internet," said Lt. 
Mark Lester.

Lester is working on the case in which Conklin and 20-year-old Matthew F. 
Allen, both of Hancock, purchased chemicals and a recipe for a "homemade" 
drug online and concocted a synthetic substance that killed Conklin and 
sent Allen to the hospital Saturday night.

Although troopers would not release the name of the website the men 
researched, Lester said finding similar sites is as simple as typing basic 
words or phrases into the computer.

In fact, one site found by The Daily Star advertises 5-Methoxytryptamine, 
one of the drugs troopers said they confiscated from Conklin's home. 
Another website gives a lengthy recipe for creating MDMA, also known as 
Ecstasy.

Troopers recovered four bags with three chemicals in them from Conklin's 
house. One hundred capsules filled with white powder were also confiscated, 
Lester said.

He said an investigation has revealed Conklin and Allen purchased the 
chemicals in order to mix a drug that would mimic the psychological and 
physiological effects of Ecstasy.

It will take a full drug analysis, however, to determine exactly what 
substances were used in the capsules, he added. The drugs Conklin and Allen 
purchased, mainly used for research purposes, are not "controlled" 
substances, which means they are legal, Lester said.

"These are analog drugs. Substances that are created by putting chemicals 
or powders that are legal together," he said. "They don't fall into penal 
laws that make them criminal, but they have the effect of amphetamines."

Prosecuting those who sell these drugs online is very difficult, Lester said.

Troopers, however, may be able to go after the out-of-state website Conklin 
and Allen researched by working with postal inspectors and/or the Drug 
Enforcement Agency, Lester said.

Meanwhile, the investigation into Conklin's death is continuing. Between 35 
and 40 people have been interviewed in the case, and while no one else 
seems to have acquired any of the lethal drug, Lester said, troopers are 
warning people about the dangers of Internet drugs.

"We want to let the public know this is serious business," said Lester. 
"Number one, you really don't know what you're getting and number two, you 
don't have any idea what dosages and strength of material you're getting."

Hancock Central School District Superintendent Ron Whipple said Conklin 
dropped out of the high school in January. He was in 10th grade at the time.

Allen graduated last year, Whipple said.

Whipple, who came to the school district in late January, said he had not 
heard that the men had drug problems.

Dottie Kruppo, director of community relations for Delaware Valley Hospital 
in Walton, where Allen was admitted, said she couldn't comment on the case 
but noted that no new overdose cases have surfaced at the hospital since 
Sunday.

"This is the first (case) we've dealt with in recent history here in this 
troop," Lester said. "It's a problem that we know has existed in other 
parts of the country but never really here."

Ecstasy is a synthetic, psychoactive drug with both stimulant 
(amphetamine-like) and hallucinogenic properties, according to information 
from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

The drug first became popular in the "rave" and all-night party scene, and 
its use spread and began to rise sharply in 1999, according to a 2001 
University of Michigan study, titled "Monitoring the Future."

The study says Ecstasy use has risen dramatically among young people ages 
16 to 26 in the past few years.

The health hazards of Ecstasy include psychological difficulties, including 
confusion, depression, sleep problems and severe anxiety. There are also 
physical symptoms, such as muscle tension, nausea, blurred vision and 
faintness, according to NIDA data. Increases in heart rate and blood 
pressure also occur with use of the drug.

Francis Nolan, director of the emergency department at A.O. Fox Memorial 
Hospital in Oneonta, said he has not seen any Ecstasy overdose cases come 
into the emergency room.

He did note, however, that screening for so-called "rave drugs" is difficult.

"Rave drugs are harder to quantify because they require specialized lab 
testing," Nolan said.

Alcohol-related injuries and deaths are the biggest local problem, he said.

No recent cases of Ecstasy overdose have been seen by emergency room 
personnel at M.I. Bassett Hospital in Cooperstown, said Leslie Raabe, 
manager of media and public relations at Bassett.

"Our chief of emergency and trauma services doesn't recall any Ecstasy 
overdoses in the past six months to a year," she said.
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