“The equivalent of one night’s use can lead to serious brain damage. How long it lasts we don’t know yet,” says Alan Leshner, Ph.D., former director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and now the CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Learning about the drug can help you explain its dangers to your children and help them avoid the risks of taking it.

• MDMA — called “E,” “Ecstasy,” “X” or “XTC” on the street — is a synthetic mind-altering drug with properties of hallucinogens and amphetamines. It usually comes in tablet or capsule form.
• Young adults and teens use Ecstasy most — often at clubs, rock concerts and raves (large, all-night dance parties).
• The most recent annual survey of high school drug use by NIDA and the University of Michigan offered some good news, however. Ecstasy use dipped slightly among teens in 2002 as more and more realized the drug is dangerous. About 11 percent of 12th graders said they had tried the drug; 52 percent of the seniors said they knew that using it even once or twice was very risky.

Many problems users encounter with MDMA are similar to those associated with amphetamines and cocaine:

• Confusion, depression, sleep deprivation, drug craving, severe anxiety, psychosis and paranoia, during and sometimes weeks after taking MDMA.
• Physical symptoms, such as muscle tension, involuntary teethclenching, nausea, blurred vision, rapid eye movement, faintness and chills or sweating.
• Increases in heart rate and blood pressure.
• Dehydration, hypothermia and heart or kidney failure. People often mix Ecstasy with alcohol and other drugs, leading to dangerous side effects.
• Possible long-term damage to parts of the brain critical to thought and memory, according to research findings. For example, research indicates that young adults using Ecstasy may be increasing their risk for developing parkinsonism, a condition similar to Parkinson’s disease, as they get older. Symptoms of Parkinson’s disease include tremors and lack of coordination early on and possibly paralysis in later stages.

Visit www.clubdrugs.org for more information.