The popular rave drug MDMA, commonly known as Ecstasy, is the fastest increasing drug used among the 19- to 26-year-old population, according to a recent nationwide study by the University of Michigan.

Several former Penn State students were arrested earlier this semester on charges that they were affiliated with a local Ecstasy, cocaine and marijuana ring. Penn State's University Park campus was ranked first among 6,269 colleges in drug-related arrests for the year 2000, according to data compiled by the U.S. Department of Education.

Penn State Police Services consider Ecstasy a "major concern." Penn State alumna Stephanie Yau, 23, died of an overdose of the drug during a rave party in a downtown lounge in November.

"When it is big in the cities we seem to get it later" Penn State police investigator Tom Sowerby said. "Maybe it is because we are a little sheltered and naïve. Historically, hard drug use is not equated with students, but now we are dealing with it in the dorms."

According to the Michigan study, titled "Monitoring the Future," a reason for Ecstasy increase is in part due to a larger dispersion among rural communities, which offsets results that find drug abuse is less likely in metropolitan areas.

A report funded by the DEA and National Institute on Drug Abuse says the growth in rural area drug problems is because mid-sized cities and rural areas are less equipped to deal with the consequences of the drug problem.

D. Wayne Osgood, Penn State professor of crime, law, justice and sociology, hesitates to trust statistics ranking drug use among universities. He said people might be surprised to learn that, in general, drugs are used as widely today in rural areas as in metropolitan areas.

Penn State spokeswoman Amy Neil thinks another possible reason for Penn State's high rate of drug related arrests is because Penn State takes a tougher stance on drug use. "Our zero tolerance policy is strictly enforced" among the 40,000 students and campus visitors, she said.

"It's a tough drug to police," Sowerby said. "Remember that we don't catch everyone. What you see in statistics is only a portion of the problem."

Sowerby said that since Ecstasy hit State College in the past four to five years, it has become fairly common.

"Rave parties, which have been big in the cities since the '80s, are now coming into Centre County," he said.

The Partnership for A Drug Free America Attitude Tracking Study reports more students than before are using Ecstasy before entering college. The Michigan study warns that the dispersion to new communities offsets perceived progress in the fight against drugs.

The FBI reports that while the rate of arrests in drug crimes has fallen 11.2 percent in cities with more than 250,000 residents over the last five years, it has risen 10.5 percent in rural areas.

Sowerby and Osgood said another alarming problem in the area is the rise of heroin use. A drug that Sowerby says, unlike Ecstasy, has only recently become a local problem.