Law-enforcement officials say they are responding to the drug's increased popularity by targeting the suppliers. The Customs Service created an ecstasy task force last March to combat its influx, primarily from the Netherlands and Belgium. Customs has about 75 dogs trained to detect the drug at entry points around the country and plans to add more this year. We can plug holes in the dike, but there's a lot of people out there who are convinced this is a harmless drug, the neatest thing since sliced bread. But the facts tell us otherwise.
Efforts are under way to get that message out.
The Partnership for a Drug-Free America, in conjunction with the Office of National Drug Control Policy, launched a federally funded radio advertising campaign Jan. 15, urging parents to educate themselves about ecstasy and to talk to their children about the drug's dangers. Deaths tied directly to ecstasy are rare. The best statistics come from the federal Drug Abuse Warning Network, or DAWN, and cover 40 metro areas nationwide. Because they are based on a wide range of reporting policies, the published numbers are not definitive. The DAWN report for December 2000 showed nine ecstasy deaths in 1998, the last year for which numbers were available.