After a year-long federal investigation landed three UW-Madison students in jail last week for allegedly planning to move more than 100,000 pills of Ecstasy, the drug’s prevalence on campus is being brought into question.
“That bust was a wake-up call for all of us,” Capt. Dale Burke of UW Police said.
But while the conspiracy to move the large quantity of doses to Madison came as a surprise to local law enforcement, students said the drug’s use is widespread.
“If I was casually at a bar and wanted to get it, I could have it within half an hour,” a UW-Madison junior who wished to remain anonymous said.
In the past, Ecstasy was labeled a rave drug, with the perception that its use was largely confined to revelers at the all-night dance parties.
But students say the drug is now used during typical nights out with friends.
“I’ve seen everyone from KK cats to Pub bums with it,” another UW student said. “Rich kids, poor kids, Wisconsin kids, out-of-state kids, clean kids and dirty kids. They all do it.”
The three UW students arrested last week were among six individuals named in a federal indictment alleging they were involved in a plan to ship the drug from Pennsylvania and Florida to Wisconsin before distributing it on and around the UW campus.
Susan Crowley, director of the Robert Wood Johnson Project, said officials at University Health Services are largely aware that students experiment with the drug.
“When students come in and are asked about experimenting with drugs, it comes up,” she said. “They are not alarming numbers. Students are not coming in for Ecstasy-related issues.”
Michael Sievert, a scientist with the UW pharmacology department, said Ecstasy produces effects much like those of the drug speed. He said it takes a normal physical function — releasing neurotransmitters from the brain to bodily cells — and speeds it up.
“It is a stimulant, so it fires up the brain and nerve function,” he said.
Sievert noted that immediate effects of taking the drug would cause a “rapid heart rate, muscle contractions like jaw clenching, hallucinations and sometimes panic attacks.” But other, more serious, side effects are also possible.
“There is a very, very rapid response to the drug, so it easily could be fatal,” he said. “[Users] could get heart attacks. It can happen even for first-time users.”
Crowley said UHS has researched the drug and distributed informational materials to dorms highlighting recognizable symptoms of Ecstasy use. Those symptoms include dryness of the mouth, jaw clenching, teeth grinding, sweating and nausea. She said that while there is no indication that the drug is addictive, users could experience psychological effects like confusion or depression if they take “excessive amounts” of the drug.
“They can go into a sustained period of depression or sleep problems after coming down from the drug,” she said.
Sievert said no licensed laboratory in the United States can legally manufacture the drug and noted it is never used for medicinal purposes. However, he said Ecstasy is easily manufactured in powder form with minimal chemistry knowledge and the right equipment.
“It is typically manufactured in home labs,” he said. “With some basic organic chemistry and lab equipment, [anyone] can manufacture the drug fairly rapidly. People can find recipes for the drug on the Web. It doesn’t require a whole lot.”
Sievert speculated that the pills involved in the recent Ecstasy bust were manufactured in a more complicated setting.
“Since the drug was in tablet form, it was probably synthesized in a much larger lab,” Sievert said.
While students may continue to search out the “right roll,” Burke said his department would work to increase their awareness of the drug and try to fight its use.
“We’re going to take a long, hard look at this and see if there are things we can do,” he said.
