Ecstasy research shatters illusion of
'riskfree' drug

BY NIGEL HAWKES
SCIENCE EDITOR

A DOSE of Ecstasy at the weekend results in a hangover so
severe that it lasts until the middle of the week, researchers
have found. Users are irritable, restless and so depressed
they could qualify for clinical treatment.

The effects of the drug are far worse than those of alcohol,
according to the study by Valerie Curran of University
College London. Her results are backed up by research by
the University of Wales in Swansea and the University of
East London, which has shown that Ecstasy impairs
memory. In one test, Ecstasy users remembered nearly a
third fewer words than nonusers.

The studies counter the notion among users that Ecstasy is a
riskfree drug without damaging sideeffects. "When Ecstasy
first became a popular drug, there were a few deaths," Dr
Curran says. "Much was made of this by the press and by
antidrug campaigners. But in fact deaths are very rare, so
Ecstasy users soon stopped listening to the warnings."

The number of regular users of Ecstasy is not known but
estimates of up to 500,000 have been made. "Some people
say double that," Dr Curran, a reader in
psychopharmacology, says. With the help of a discjockey,
she recruited 12 Ecstasy users at a London club on a
Saturday night and 12 people who said they had taken only
alcohol. They all completed mood and memory tests at the
club and were tested at home the next day and the following
Wednesday. One test involved counting backwards in
sevens from a threefigure number, a standard method of
studying working memory and the ability to concentrate. In
the club and the following day, Ecstasy users did almost
twice as badly as the drinkers. By Wednesday the scores
were closer but the alcohol group still did better.

Bigger differences emerged when mood was tested. The day
after clubbing, Dr Curran says, the two groups achieved
similar results. "The alcohol group, who had had the
equivalent of five to six pints of beer, were simply hung
over," she says. "The Ecstasy group hadn't slept, so they
were tired. The results were about the same." By the
Wednesday, however, the drinkers had recovered but the
Ecstasy users had not. Their scores for irritability and
restlessness were 50 per cent higher and their anxiety rating
was double that of the drinkers.

"What concerns me is that Ecstasy users could have effects
longterm," Dr Curran says. Two other studies have shown
that Ecstasy can affect the memory. In one, led by Andrew
Parrott of the University of East London, users were asked
to look at a computer screen as 15 words appeared on it
one after the other. Afterwards they were asked to write the
words they remembered. Several days after taking Ecstasy,
regular users recalled 30 per cent fewer words that
nonusers.

Michael Morgan and colleagues at the University of Wales in
Swansea also found that Ecstasy users performed markedly
less well.

Jail staff caught 1,300 people trying to smuggle drugs to
prisoners last year. A further 250 people have been arrested
since April in the campaign to curb drug use among inmates.
Prison staff have noticed a rise in the number of visitors who,
on seeing searches conducted, turn back and place
packages in their vehicles. Pam Wilson, of the Prison
Service, told the London Drug Policy Forum that there was
greater use of informants in jails to detect drugs, that 70
prisons used trained dogs in visiting areas, and tables had
been lowered to make it less easy to pass drugs.