By Cathy Logg
Herald Writer
EVERETT — It was the photograph of the 10-year-old boy that got to Debbie Anstett.
The photo showed a boy with a necklace holding a glowing light stick. His eyes were fully dilated and his skin appeared flushed, giving mute testimony to the influence of the club drug Ecstasy.
"It broke my heart. We have 10-year-olds," Anstett said, gesturing toward a friend who, like her, is a mother of an Everett middle school student.
Anstett saw the picture during a talk at Evergreen Middle School on Tuesday by a special agent with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. The agent, Ed Kunigonis, talked about his involvement in combating the growing use of Ecstasy and other drugs in the rave culture and club scene.
Raves, which are generally billed as alcohol-free and drug-free dance parties, are actually open-air drug markets, he said.
"This is not something that’s just down in Seattle," Kunigonis said. "These things are right here in Snohomish County."
About 50 people attended his talk at Evergreen, one of numerous local schools where he has addressed students, faculty and staff, parent groups and the public, trying to educate them on the dangers of the rave culture and club drugs.
The Navy became involved in the issue 2 1/2years ago after a sailor on his way home from a rave in Seattle "stepped out of a vehicle at 45 mph" and died from his injuries, Kunigonis said.
Kunigonis said there’s a direct link between raves and illegal club drugs such as Ecstasy.
The raves are advertised by flyers at record stores and other shops frequented by teens, by word of mouth and on the Internet. Some don’t even list a specific location, but name a city and a phone number to call for more information. That’s the promoters’ attempt to make it hard for police agencies to plan and coordinate a response, Kunigonis said.
Besides Ecstasy, other so-called club drugs include methamphetamine, LSD, Ketamine (a powerful tranquilizer for large animals), and GHB (known as a date-rape drug).
Ecstasy use is potentially deadly, and is blamed for taking seven lives to date in Washington. With long-term use, it leaves the brain with unresponsive areas that show up on tests as looking like Swiss cheese, particularly in the areas responsible for learning and memory.
The events target middle- or upper-middle-income young people with ample disposable cash. They have to have money, because raves aren’t cheap. Tickets are about $45 each, and pills such as Ecstasy sell for about $20 apiece, with many users consuming three or four per rave.
And once the drug’s effects take hold and users begin to dehydrate, ravers spend exorbitant amounts on bottled water, juices or soft drinks to keep them going, Kunigonis said.
The rave scene has its own subset of paraphernalia, including candy necklaces onto which Ecstasy pills are strung so the ravers can suck on them, chemical light sticks, menthol nasal inhalers and mentholated rubs to help enhance the drug’s effects, and dust or surgical masks.
"This is unlike anything we’ve seen in the past," Kunigonis said. "The paraphernalia is different and limited only by imagination and creativity.
"We’re awash in methamphetamine, and the number two drug is Ecstasy," he said. He noted a 71 percent increase in Ecstasy use among young people.
In June, Kunigonis attended a rave at the Seattle Exhibition Center, where more than 13,000 young people gathered. There have been rave events in Edmonds, Everett and Monroe. And the drug’s use doesn’t stop there.
"Kids are being introduced to Ecstasy during the school day," Kunigonis said. "I find that a very disturbing trend."
Evergreen principal Jim McNally said, "We’ve known about this issue for a while, and it scares us to death."
No students at the school have been caught with Ecstasy. But that hasn’t eased McNally’s concerns.
"We’ve heard about it happening on the weekends, and we’re very vigilant. We know there have been raves in our area. But we can’t do this alone. Parents need to be educated about it. Most parents are careful and watchful, but the culture out there has lots of pitfalls," he said.
Everett mother Pam Fisher found Kunigonis’ presentation informative, she said. Her daughters, 13-year-old Heather Thompson and 10-year-old Amy Thompson, accompanied her. Heather is writing a school report on how drugs affect teens and what can be done about it.
"I just thought it was good to know that stuff so you can know when people are doing drugs," Amy Thompson said. "You don’t know who you can trust and who you can’t."
You can call Herald Writer Cathy Logg at 425-339-3437
or send e-mail to logg@heraldnet.com.
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