'ECSTASY' COULD BE THERAPEUTIC, SOME EXPERTS SAY

Forum In S.F. Calls For More Research Into Drug

SAN FRANCISCO -- Hysteria and fear are poor foundations for sound drug
policy, experts at a national conference on MDMA -- commonly known as
"Ecstasy" -- said Friday.

Most speakers at the conference, attended by about 300 people at the
Presidio's Golden Gate Club, called for scientific research into MDMA's
therapeutic uses, most likely as an aid to psychotherapy for patients
dealing with stress from trauma or terminal illness. Some see the drug,
which produces a feeling of well-being and empathy with others, as a
possible alternative to popular anti-depressants such as Prozac or Zoloft.

Some psychotherapists prescribed it in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but
since 1986 MDMA has been on the government's list of most restricted drugs
- -- with neighbors including marijuana, heroin and LSD -- allowing no
further research or use. Still, its popularity as a recreational drug has
exploded, particularly among young people. Many have deemed it a "rave
drug," as it is often found at rave dance parties.

Medical and research experts here Friday said the public has been flooded
with stories -- many of them biased or just false -- about the drug sending
people to hospitals, sometimes fatally. But science has yet to weigh in.
While some doctors believe MDMA is too dangerous for any human use, most of
those attending the forum believe research would prove otherwise.

Dr. Charles S. Grob of the University of California, Los Angeles, conducted
the first Food and Drug Administration-approved study of MDMA's effects on
humans in the mid-1990s, but said the government has not approved further
studies.

"There's a major public health crisis right now," he said of uncontrolled
rave drug use by youths, but that should not preclude further MDMA
research. Much of what youths call Ecstasy is not pure MDMA at all, he
said, but instead a dose of the drug heavily adulterated -- or in some
cases, completely replaced -- with other, often more dangerous, substances.

And criminalizing all MDMA research and use is not keeping it out of
youth's hands, he noted. The drug could be better controlled if it were
decriminalized, medicalized and heavily regulated.

Rick Doblin, founder and president of the Multidisciplinary Association for
Psychedelic Studies, said medicinal-sized doses of MDMA have not been shown
to cause any harm to brain cells or other organs.

Emanuel Sferios founded and directs DanceSafe, an Oakland-based nonprofit
promoting health and safety at raves and nightclubs. Among other services,
it offers pill testing at raves to ensure that what people are about to
take really is MDMA and not something more dangerous, sold to them as Ecstasy.

"We need to look at all the factors before we put blame only on the drug,"
he said, explaining that most of the illnesses and occasional deaths
attributed to Ecstasy were not due to MDMA at all, but rather to other
drugs or to rave conditions such as overcrowding, high temperatures and
dehydration.

San Francisco city officials have adopted policies regulating rave
conditions, and East Bay promoters have adopted many of them voluntarily,
he added.

The conference was hosted by the San Francisco Medical Society and the
Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy Foundation, a nonprofit organization aimed at
moving drug policy away from a criminal justice emphasis and toward
education and treatment. The organization is funded by George Soros, a
financier who helped underwrite California's medical marijuana and drug
court ballot initiatives.

Conference co-sponsors included the San Francisco Public Health Department
and District Attorney.