Authorities in agony over tales of ecstasy drug use

By Kristen McQueary
Politics Writer

August 18, 2000

Though his identity remained a secret, his story was exposed Thursday when police described for lawmakers their efforts to fight the drug "ecstasy."
It was the story of a Carl Sandburg High School graduate — a straight-A student with two professional parents — whose experimentation with the drug transformed him into a violent, absent-minded 23-year-old who swallows seven or eight ecstasy tablets at one time to get the same high he used to get from one.

It was the story of a 23-year-old whose short-term memory is so impaired by the drug, he can't hold down a job because he can't remember how to perform it day-to-day.

It was the story of a white, suburban kid with a top-notch education who didn't know what he was getting himself into when he started popping the colorful tablets that look more like SweetTarts than deadly doses of short-term euphoria. 

And it was the story that gripped a room of lawmakers and law enforcement officials who met at the Orland Park Civic Center to talk about the need for a new state law that would penalize ecstasy users to the same level cocaine, marijuana and heroine users are punished.

"My eyes have been opened unbelievably today," State Rep. Renee Kosel (R-Mokena) said. 

She was joined by state reps. Jim Meyer (R-Bolingbrook), Brent Hassert (R-Romeoville) and Jim Durkin (R-Westchester) who said lawmakers may try to pass ecstasy legislation during the veto session in November.

So far, the General Assembly has not dealt with ecstasy and its proliferation. The only law on the books that covers ecstasy is a general, controlled-substance statute that punishes all drug offenders based on the weight of the drug they're caught possessing. 

But ecstasy pills weigh very little. An offender can be caught with $30,000 worth of ecstasy tablets — more than 500 pills — and leave the courtroom with probation only, law enforcement officials said.

A similar cargo of crack or heroine would amount to a Class X felony, punishable by six to 30 years behind bars.

The disparity is allowing typically white, suburban kids using ecstasy to see little culpability for their actions.

"The first day in court, the cases are disposed of," Tinley Park officer Bill Devine said. "They get probation or drug school. There's absolutely no threat to them. They get in more trouble for retail theft."

For lawmakers, the legislation is expected to be a slam dunk and a notch under the belts of several Republicans facing re-election in November, including the four at Thursday's hearing. All were appointed recently to the Task Force on Designer Drugs, which will hold several hearings exploring the need for a tougher statute.

Law enforcement officials attending the meeting from the Will County Sheriff's Department said the number of ecstasy cases and "raves" — parties thrown in rural, abandoned buildings where ecstasy is readily available — have not become an "epidemic." 

But many of the cases are probably going undetected, they said. Kids using ecstasy don't act irrationally. In fact, they tend to be mellow, peaceful and affectionate while high.

"You can't really tell if a kid is on it," Will County Sheriff's Lt. Paul Koupas said. 

And dealers tend to sell the drug only among friends, so there is no unusual traffic at the home of a seller. 

"It could be the kid next door," said Tim McCann of the DuPage County state's attorney's office, which is seeing a dramatic increase in the number of ecstasy cases.

And there's no paraphernalia: no smoking devices, rolling papers or scales — just a tiny tablet often stamped with a cartoon or a smiley face.

But the money involved is momentous. Police officials told stories of teen-agers, newly involved in selling the drug, with stashes of $15,000 in their bedrooms.

Officials also said they've heard stories of downtown Chicago bars that are hotspots for the drug. The problem for the bar owners, however, is that ecstasy users don't drink alcohol while using. They don't eat either. They just drink a lot of water, which is said to prolong the effect of the drug.

So to compensate, some bar owners are shutting off the water in the bathrooms and selling high-priced bottled water behind the bar.

For the 23-year-old, ecstasy has given him nothing but misery. He's lost 40 pounds, falls into deep depressions and can't find help, Devine said.

"We'd like to take him around to high schools to talk about the dangers of the drug," Devine said. "He's even willing to do it. But he's still a user, and we can't risk him being around the other kids."