Wednesday, March 21, 2001; Page A17

Taking emergency action, the U.S. Sentencing Commission yesterday sharply increased the guideline penalties for selling the party drug ecstasy. Beginning May 1, the punishment for importing or selling the "hug drug" will be more severe than for peddling powder cocaine.

The new sentencing guidelines to be followed by federal judges will roughly triple the likely prison term for sale of 200 grams of ecstasy -- about 800 pills -- from 15 months to five years. The penalty for sale of 8,000 pills will rise from 41 months to 120 months.

Advocates of higher penalties, including the Justice Department, contend the punishment is needed to curb the dramatic increase in the drug's use in recent years, particularly among teenagers and young adults. They say the federal law is targeted at manufacturers, importers and dealers, not adolescents at rave parties.

Opponents told the commission that ecstasy is not as addictive or destructive as the opiates and hallucinogens that have inspired similarly long sentences. Several medical researchers challenged studies that indicated a link to long-term physiological harm, arguing that ecstasy is far less dangerous than heroin, cocaine or methamphetamine.

A group of leading neuroscientists and drug policy specialists operating under the umbrella of the Federation of American Scientists this week criticized proposed sentencing guidelines as "grossly disproportionate" to the dangers presented by ecstasy. While stating that abuse of the drug poses risks, the group said there was "no justification" in terms of policy or pharmacology for an increase in punishment.

Ecstasy is a stimulant combined with a mild hallucinogen, and is typically sold for $20 to $40 in tablets that weigh a quarter-gram. Hundreds of thousands of high school students use the drug on an average weekend, studies suggest.

-- Peter Slevin