WHY I LOVE MY LOVED-UP NIGHTS ON ECSTASY

Author, Playwright, Cambridge Graduate And Regular Clubber Johann Hari Says
The Home Secretary Is Wrong Not To Legalise This Class-A Drug

I do not smoke. I never drink. But recently, together with a high-flying
advertising exec, a leading social worker and a doctor - all model
citizens, all of us with firsts from Cambridge University - I was out
taking pills. Which has made reading the newspapers over the past few days
a strange experience. There is, out there, a drug called ecstasy. According
to David Blunkett, this 'can, and does, kill unpredictably, and there is no
such thing as a safe dose'. The Home Secretary believes that people who use
or sell this evil drug should face years in prison. This is odd, because I
- along with about 500,000 people around my age (I'm 23) - use a drug with
the same name each weekend. But the ecstasy I know and love has never
'killed unpredictably'. It is true that a tiny handful of people have died.
Each of these deaths is, of course, a horrific tragedy for the family
involved, but we need some perspective here. Fewer people die because of
ecstasy than perfectly legal alcohol. That's fairly widely known, despite
our hysterically anti-ecstasy press. But did you know that more people, in
fact, die working out on an exercise bike or because of allergic reactions
to nectarines each year than because of ecstasy?

Clearly, David Blunkett needs to be informed of the basic facts about one
of Britain's most popular drugs. If he fancies trying one, I'll be happy to
take him to a decent club. But in the meantime, I'll try to explain why so
many of us use the drug weekly.

Ecstasy is a non-addictive Class-A drug, first synthesised as MDMA - a
white crystalline solid - in Germany in 1912. It has a distinct, bitter
taste and is usually taken in a pill or capsule. Usually, I take a full
pill (which costs about UKP10) if I'm going out clubbing. Within 20 to 40
minutes I'd start to 'come up' - the drug sends rushes to the brain, which
can be, quite literally, an ecstatic experience. The effect is known as
being 'loved up' and I find it simultaneously blissfully happy and hectic.

My heart beats faster, and I feel a lot of energy and excitement. I feel an
irresistible urge to do things, especially dance. I am such a horrendously
bad mover that it is the only time I can suspend my embarrassment and take
to the dance floor.

The drug makes me feel extraordinarily 'at one' - almost affectionate -
with the people around me, even large crowds. It's very easy to bond with
people when 'loved up'. Perhaps, given all the blood feuds running through
the Cabinet, a group ecstasy experience would be useful. Tony and Gordon
would be hugging and apologising for all those back-stabbing briefings in
no time.

Many of the problems David Blunkett is rightly worried about, like yobbish
street violence, are actually reduced by ecstasy. It is almost impossible
to be aggressive when you are loved up. If people took ecstasy, rather than
alcohol, in every pub in Britain, we would have no violence at all on
Friday and Saturday nights.

But what about problems associated with ecstasy? It is often argued by
anti-ecstasy campaigners that the drug has dangerous side effects, such as
depression, memory loss or paranoia.

In fact, several prestigious scientific magazines have recently shown that
the research which suggests this damage is flawed.

There is no reliable evidence at all for long-term damage - in sharp
contrast to cigarettes, alcohol and fatty foods. Harmful short-term effects
appear to be mainly due to either taking bad pills (which may have been
mixed with other substances), or misuse regarding the ecstasy pills themselves.

If ecstasy were legalised and sold with clear guidelines, Leah Betts would
be alive today. I'm sorry if it seems insensitive to her family to point
this out, but if we do not, there will be another Leah soon.

She died because she did not know how to take ecstasy. She had heard that
you need to drink lots of water. But, because of the then-Conservative
government's policy of not properly informing teenagers and ecstasy
consumers, she did not know that this applies only if you have been dancing
an awful lot, in a hot and crowded club, and therefore sweated so much you
might dehydrate.

Leah sat down, didn't move much, and drank extremely large amounts of
water. The consultant who treated her said she was effectively suffering
from 'water intoxication'. Misinformation about drug use killed her, not
the drug itself. This was horrible, tragic - but entirely preventable.
Legalisation would make clear instructions and safety guidelines possible.

More importantly, legalisation would take ecstasy out of the hands of
criminal gangs. I know many decent Left-leaning people who won't buy any
coffee but Fairtrade, in their zeal to support ethical trade, but they are
forced to give money indirectly to hideous criminal syndicates (who often
have links to international terrorism, child porn and protection rackets)
when they buy their drugs. Blunkett has it in his power to bankrupt these
foul groups overnight by allowing ecstasy to be sold over the counter in
off-licenses and clubs. Legalised ecstasy would be taxable and help pay for
schools and hospitals.

The alternative to all this is to tell me and hundreds of thousands of
other young people that we are criminals. This makes the law into a joke
because it is entirely unenforceable. If you arrested and convicted all
users, the prison population of Britain would explode. Surely it is time to
end this farce and introduce safe, legal ecstasy?