NO JOY FOR MAN WHO INVENTED ECSTASY

THE scientists who introduced ecstasy to the world in the 1970s fears
its notoriety is destroying any chance that it might be used to treat
the mentally ill.

"Its very excellent potential for being used as medicine has been
badly jeopardised," lamented Alexander Shulgin. The tall Californian,
widely known as "Dr Ecstasy", said it had gone out of control.

A psychopharmacological researcher who once had a licence from the US
government to develop any illegal drug, Dr Shulgin, 80, believes
strongly in the power of psychedelic drugs to unlock the human mind.

As a former lecturer at the University of California at Berkeley, he
self-tested many of his experiments, and has admitted to more than
4000 psychedelic experiences.

But he is unhappy about ecstasy's image as the drug of nightclub dance
parties, or raves. "These rave scenes have added kindling to the fire
of governmental disapproval," he said.

Use of the drug, known for inducing euphoria and energy while reducing
inhibitions, surged 70 per cent from 1995 to 2000, according to United
Nations data. Australia's National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre
said in April that users risked harmful psychological effects.

Tracing the rise of the drug leads straight to Dr Shulgin. A gifted
biochemist, he unearthed a formula for MDMA -- a synthetic drug with
psychedelic and stimulant effects -- in a 1912 chemistry text, and
synthesised it into ecstasy in 1976.

After testing it on himself, he became convinced of its power to treat
mental illness. He gave the drug to a psychotherapist and close
friend, Leo Zeff, who tried it, agreed, and passed it to hundreds of
other therapists.

Ecstasy was used in its early days as a treatment for depression and
other illnesses, but that ended abruptly in 1986 when it was banned by
the US Drug Enforcement Agency.

But recently, ecstasy has had a modest comeback in clinical
therapy.

Authorities gave researchers at the Medical University of South
Carolina permission last year to use MDMA in a small study of patients
suffering post-traumatic stress.

In August, researchers at Duke University, in North Carolina, found
that amphetamines, including ecstasy, reversed the effects of
Parkinson's disease in mice, raising the possibility of exploring
related treatments for humans.