Designer Drug In Queens:
The Agony of Ecstasy

XTC, E, X, Adam, roll—These are just a few of the street names for the drug ecstasy, a synthetic narcotic that in recent years has skyrocketed in popularity among teenagers and young adults throughout the nation.

While its use was once limited to the urban club scene, ecstasy has since seeped into the suburbs, becoming the drug of choice for a growing sector of Queens’ party-going population.

As members of the medical community scramble to gather information on the substance’s effects, and law enforcement officials step up their campaign to curb the drug’s distribution, ecstasy continues to become an integral part of the recreational lives of countless Queens youths.

Users Talk

According to Jim Foran, a representative from the SPARK program who lectures Queens high school students on the dangers of drugs, in recent years ecstasy has become significantly more popular among the borough’s youth.

"We have seen an increase of it in the past 10 years," said Foran, noting that when he visits high schools, students consistently bring up ecstasy during the discussion. "Ecstasy is one of the more popular ones that come up."

Having long supplanted cocaine as the nation’s party drug of choice, ecstasy has now become so readily available that it’s almost impossible for teens not to try it at least once.

"It’s easier to buy than cigarettes" said Lisa Gomes, 40, member of Ozone Park’s Community Board 9 and mother of two daughters, aged 12 and 14. The notion that ecstasy is simply a "club drug" is completely inaccurate, many regular users don’t even go to clubs. Many regular users are too young to get in.

Gomes discourages her girls from associating with the group of friends who have openly boasted about using the drug in their local park, both of whom have been offered the drug and have had run-ins with friends who are users or dealers.

While ecstasy is not viewed to be physically addicting, it does create a significant psychological dependency, and as with any controlled substance, young minds and bodies are particularly vulnerable

"It doesn’t matter where you are, you can do it anytime," said Steven, a relatively new ecstasy user and 21-year-old local who asked to remain anonymous. "You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into."

"It’s an addiction that sneaks up on you can be very dangerous cause you don’t know what’s in there."

Perhaps what’s most alarming is that users openly identified ecstasy as a physically damaging substance, yet continue to take it nonetheless. Anthony, another youth who asked not to be further identified, says that while under the influence of ecstasy, he’s been led to use other drugs.

"K and E together is out of control," he said, refering to the drug ketamine, an anesthesia often taken along with ecstasy.

Like so many others, the two users said they planned on continuing taking the drug, yet realize they’ll have to quit at some point.

Ecstasy Essentials

Scientifically referred to as MDMA (methylenedioxymethamphetamine), ecstasy is a designer drug that shares properties with both amphetamines and hallucinogens.

First synthesized by the German company Merck Pharmaceutical in 1912 and patented in the U.S. in 1914, ecstasy was initially used as an appetite suppressant for those seeking to lose weight. Yet in light of the discovery of the drug’s adverse effects, it was never marketed and its patent eventually expired.

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, ecstasy reemerged within the medical community as an adjunct to psychotherapy, with therapists praising the drug for its usefulness in enhancing social interaction, introspection and communication.

Nevertheless, in 1985 the drug was made illegal, and classified by the federal government as a schedule 1 drug—a category reserved for substances deemed physically dangerous and believed to hold no medicinal value.

Despite its prohibition, ecstasy is used as a recreational drug, especially at clubs and raves—all night dance parties at which substance abuse is the norm — primarily because of the often-energetic side effects accompanied with the narcotic.

Usually ingested in pill form — although it can be purchased as a powder — peak affects of the drug usually take place in the first 60 to 90 minutes, with the entire experience usually lasting several hours.

The physical side-effects of the intoxication include increased body temperature, dehydration, sweating, teeth grinding, loss of appetite, nausea and sleeplessness.

Dubbed the "hug drug" because of the empathy it produces, users report feelings of intense euphoria, emotional openness and friendliness — giving many a false sense of the drug’s benign nature.

However medical officials are reporting that ecstasy is anything but safe. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, ecstasy can raise body temperature to fatal heights and has been linked in the deaths of a number of the nation’s youths.

Studies conducted by the John Hopkins Medical Institute have found that ecstasy use can lower a person’s production of serotonin, a chemical instrumental in regulating aggression and mood, by 10 to 30 percent—leading doctors to speculate that long term use can lead to severe emotional and psychological disturbances. Some scientists maintain that lasting damage can occur from simply one dose.

Research also indicates the drug’s additional ability to destroy certain brain cells that utilize the neurotransmitter dopamine, which might possibly lead to Parkinson’s disease, a neurological disorder that effects motor functions.

Doctors warn of ecstasy’s suspect contents, perhaps more so than any other street drug, noting that Valium, heroin, caffeine and other substances are often mixed in without the user even knowing it.

"You haven’t the faintest idea of what you’re putting in your body," said Dr. Richard Blum, a specialist in clinical pharmacology at St. Francis Hospital.

"Repeated use of any compound that’s not monitored can lead to a serious detrimental affect," said Blum. "It can cause serious long-term consequences; hardening of the arteries, strokes, heart attacks."

Proponents of the drug argue that research against ecstasy is based largely on conjecture.

Where’s It Coming From/What’s Being Done To Stop It?

Recognizing the growing popularity of ecstasy, Queens law enforcement officials have stepped up their efforts to stifle the drugs distribution.

Just last February police, collaborating with the United States Drug Enforcement Agency, took down a nationwide multi-million dollar ecstasy drug ring that was operating out of Forest Hills.

"Ecstasy trafficking has become an explosive problem," said Acting Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Donnie Marshall. "No longer confined to our major cities, it is expanding into our rural communities as well."

Following an extensive investigation beginning in April, 1999 investigators learned that Oshri Amar, an Israeli, had been engaging in hundreds of wholesale ecstasy transactions with dealers from Florida, Philadelphia, Rhode Island, California, Ohio, Massachusetts and the New York metropolitan area. Amir had been conducting the business out of his Forest Hills apartment.

In the end, Amir and several of his associates and clientele were arrested, and over 300,000 ecstasy pills and $7.5 million were seized.

As a result of this investigation, law officials learned ecstasy was primarily being manufactured and exported from the Netherlands and Belgium. Alarmingly, officials also learned just how lucrative the business of selling the drug truly is.

"According to the charges, the defendants made enormous profits trafficking the drug, paying between $1 to $2 per tablet to underground Dutch and Belgian laboratories and then charging their wholesalers $6 to $8 per pill," said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown. The drugs are ultimately sold for an even larger profit at the club level, where ecstasy prices soar to $20 and $30.

"We are committed to continuing operations such as these until every pipeline is shut down," said New York City Police Commissioner Howard Safir.