107th Congress

Looking the Other Way: Rave Promoters and Club Drugs -- Hearing Before the Senate Judiciary -- Caucus on International Narcotics Control -- December 4, 2001

Members Present

Senators Joseph Biden (D-DE), Chairman; and Charles Grassley (R-IA).

Witnesses

Panel One: Asa Hutchinson, Administrator, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Department of Justice, Glen R. Hanson, D.D.S., Ph.D., Acting Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Panel Two: Kate Patton, KMB Foundation, Rolling Medows, IL, Eladio M. Paez, Detective, City of Miami Police Department, Miami, FL, Henry Mendoza, Captain, New Orleans Police Department, New Orleans, LA, Sean McCullough, Special Agent in Charge, Iowa Department of Narcotics Enforcement, Des Moines, IA.

Summary

Purpose of Hearing: The purpose of the hearing was to focus attention on party promoters of all-night dance parties that allow and profit from illicit, teen-age drug use. The Chairman stated that it is common for the organizers of these rave parties to go to great lengths to portray their events as safe so that parents will allow their kids to attend. Senator Biden noted that the promoters advertise the rave parties as alcohol-free parties and some even hire off-duty police officers to patrol outside the venues. However, the truth is that many of these raves are drug dens where use of Ecstasy and other "club drugs"-such as the drug Rohypnol, GHB and Ketamine-is widespread. The Committee wanted to hear from the witnesses about the extent of the "club drug" problem; the State, local, and Federal law enforcement steps being taken to crack down on rave promoters; methods to educate parents about the danger of raves and the club drugs associated with them; and Federal efforts that may be used to go after rave promoters.

Overall Summary: The hearing chiefly addressed key law enforcement strategies to combat rave promoters. Dr. Hanson's testimony provided the latest scientific research data which indicates that club drugs are not benign and confirm that these drugs cause long-lasting negative effects on the brain altering memory and other behavior. Dr. Hanson testified that:

• Club drugs such as MDMA (ecstasy) can be extremely dangerous, even when used just once, and significantly depletes brain serotonin.
• 6.5 million people over the age of 12 reported trying MDMA at least once in their lifetime.
• Central nervous system depressants, such as gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB) and the anesthetic Ketamine, are bringing thousands more patients to hospital emergency rooms each year.

Senator Biden compared today's underestimation of the dangers of ecstasy to the Nation's past benign reaction to cocaine in the late 1970s and 1980s. The Senator asked Dr. Hanson what could be done to better alert the media, the public, and parents to the dangers of ecstasy and other club drugs. Dr. Hanson responded that Senator Biden's observation about the cocaine epidemic was very insightful. In fact, he said we are following in the footsteps of what happened in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Dr. Hanson also indicated that it is NIDA's greatest desire to try to educate the public about the potential consequences of using ecstasy and other club drugs. We know ecstasy has potential neurotoxicity. We have known this for many years; and, yet, some people still do not believe that this is a big problem. Dr. Hanson said that we need more studies that verify the harmful effects on humans. Of course, one would not do an experiment on humans to see whether ecstasy is going to damage somebody's brain, but scientists can look retrospectively at those who have used it.

The second panel of witnesses focused on a parent who lost a daughter to an ecstasy overdose and law enforcement officials who have investigated the trafficking of club drugs at rave parties.

Opening Statements: Former Representative Hutchinson testified that the use of club drugs is the number one drug problem among 18 to 25 year olds in our society. It is a growing problem and an enormous health problem, Mr. Hutchinson told the Committee. Rave clubs are one of the venues in which these club drugs are promoted and sold. It is difficult for the DEA to prosecute rave promoters because they do not directly distribute the club drugs. The DEA has used the crack house statute to prosecute rave promoters because the promoters are not distributing the club drugs themselves but providing a venue in which drugs are sold and used.

Dr. Hanson informed the Committee that drugs such as MDMA, methamphetamine, Ketamine, Rohypnol, and GHB are reportedly being used at alarming rates among adolescents and young adults in a wide variety of social settings including raves. Dr. Hanson said that substantial scientific evidence demonstrates that these drugs are not benign and harmless as they are often perceived by some users or sometimes portrayed in the popular media. Studies conducted in both laboratory animals and humans show that most of these drugs can have long-lasting negative effects on the brain and alter memory and other behaviors. There are medical examiner reports which indicate that these drugs are often mixed with other substances, including alcohol; and we have a challenging and complex public health problem that needs to be addressed. Dr. Hanson told the Committee that the world's leading researchers gathered for a scientific meeting this past summer on ecstasy. The message that emerged was that for some people this drug can be extremely dangerous-even when used just once. Repeated use over time can damage critical brain cells in ways that can have long-lasting effects. There is some evidence that ecstasy users are using several other drugs, such as marijuana, cocaine, and Ketamine-it is very unusual to find a pure ecstasy user, Dr. Hanson told the Committee. This poses scientific dilemmas in determining the extent of damage to an individual-whether it is solely ecstasy or the combination of other drugs-when assessing the impact of the use of one drug alone.

Questions

Senator Biden:

To Dr. Hanson and Mr. Hutchinson: What are the one or two things you would want most to be able to get the public to better understand what a serious problem club drugs are?

To Dr. Hanson: Is there any evidence whether ecstasy users are at the gateway or they are already abusers of other drugs before they get into ecstasy? How much of this is becoming a gateway drug for kids into other drugs? Do we have any data?

Senator Grassley:

To Dr. Hanson: Describe what you mean by neurotoxicity.

Prepared by Linwood Corbett/OD/OLPA, January 4, 2002