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CNN Live Saturday

Interview with Terry Horton

Aired February 16, 2002 - 22:40   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Now you may have seen a series of public service announcements, that are targeting a growing drug problem. The drug is called "Ecstasy." And law enforcement officials say that it's quickly becoming the drug of choice for many teenagers. Here's a look now at one of those PSAs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We had no warning signs about dying...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Chanel was always one to talk to her friends about not doing drugs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn't know what Ecstasy was. I never heard the word. I do now. We know that she took Ecstasy three times. Then on the third time, it killed my daughter. It killed her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CALLAWAY: Joining us now with a closer look at the troubles with Ecstasy is Dr. Terry Horton. He's the director of the Phoenix Health Foundation. Thank you very much for being with us on this Saturday night.

TERRY HORTON: My pleasure.

CALLAWAY: Was that -- were you familiar with the story of Danielle?

HORTON: No, I wasn't, but I'm familiar with other families from the PSAs and from the commercials that...

CALLAWAY: Right. I know some of the public service announcements have included people that have been to the Phoenix House, is that right?

HORTON: That's correct. Their stories are true and they're not actors.

CALLAWAY: I have to say I was amazed at some of the numbers that -- the PDFA numbers. And something like 750,000 seizures of this drug in 1998, jumping to 9.3 million in the year 2000. Here we are in the, you know, in the year 2002. I have to ask you, you know, are we seeing the use of this drug rise that rapidly? HORTON: Yes, we are in certain sections of the country. There's been at least a 70 percent increase of Ecstasy use among adolescents, despite drug abuse being fairly stable for other drugs there. But it does appear, for example, in our Long Island programs at Phoenix House, we're seeing a really pervasive use. As well as in our rural areas, we have programs up in New Hampshire that are fairly rural. And we're seeing quite a bit of use there.

CALLAWAY: You know, it looks very easy to take. It's just a small, white pill. How difficult is it to get?

HORTON: That's not difficult to at all. In fact, we hear from our teenagers in our program that it's readily available, as readily available as marijuana or alcohol in their high schools.

CALLAWAY: Dr. Horton, we heard Danielle's story in that public service announcement. A young girl took it three times. And it killed her. Are you seeing this a lot with your teenagers? Is it mostly young people and, you know, are they taking it more than repeatedly? Or does it make them sick after the first time they take it?

HORTON: Well, the drug is often used as multiple times. And it's used with other drugs. Fortunately, the numbers of fatalities have been limited. There were approximately 4500 emergency room visits last year, which is very significant.

I think the problem is that primarily the adolescents and young adults do not view this as a dangerous drug. And therefore, they're much more likely to experiment with it.

CALLAWAY: Do you think they really think of it as just a party drug, something you do when you go to a party?

HORTON: A social lubricant that unfortunately is very, very dangerous. It reminds me of some of the misinformation that came out with cocaine back in the, you know, late '70s, where it was thought to be beneficial, useful, and safe. And Ecstasy is anything but.

CALLAWAY: What does it do to you?

HORTON: Well, acutely, it can cause a number of things from sweating, teeth clenching, high blood pressure, rapid pulse rate. More seriously, there's something called the Serich Nergic (ph) Syndrome, which happens sometimes even with just a single dose, but often with...

CALLAWAY: Wow.

HORTON: ...multiple doses, where the body loses its ability to regulate heat, muscle breaks down, the kidneys fail. And you can end up in a very serious situation. There's a number of psychiatric problems that occur, usually sometimes even up to two weeks after use, where we see panic attacks, depression, even episodes of psychosis. But the most serious, I think, and the most frightening consequence of this drug is that it is a neurotoxin. It's a drug that goes into the brain and affects in very sensitive nerves and areas of the brain involved with memory and learning. And those changes that occur, those destruction of those neurons, probably may be persistent, up to seven years. We've seen an animal models. And it's been shown in England, probably upwards of a year.

CALLAWAY: Yes. Now I read one of the stories of a young man who lost his memory for something like seven years. That is just so amazing that the young people are not aware of what it can do to you.

HORTON: Absolutely.

CALLAWAY: So what about parents out there? What should they be looking for? What are some of the signs of your child possibly taking this drug?

HORTON: Well, it's similar signs that you see with any child that gets involved with drugs of abuse. If it becomes a problem, they have changes in their school performance, their peer group, extracurricular activities that are no longer their favorite and go the wayside, changes in their dress, paraphernalia like pacifiers and water bottles seeming to collect around, and a lot more interest in drug-related music.

CALLAWAY: You know, you can't say something like pacifiers and bottles, without explaining that a little bit to give parents an idea.

HORTON: Right.

CALLAWAY: Could you explain that because I know, you know, certainly with any drug, there are the basic signs. But with this drug, there are some unusual sense of...

HORTON: That's correct.

CALLAWAY: ...just the sweating. And could you explain a little bit, to everyone that is listening?

HORTON: That's correct. While intoxicated on Ecstasy, it's not unusual to have muscle twitching, teeth clenching, as well as profuse sweating. Now it's also used, as you know, in raves and clubs.

CALLAWAY: Right.

HORTON: You must understand that use has long since extended beyond those settings. So it's very important that parents, if they see that sort of...

CALLAWAY: Oh, we have obviously lost our signal with Dr. Terry Horton. We apologize, everyone. That was an interesting conversation we were having about the drug Ecstasy. We apologize for that, but we'll just move on now.

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