DEATH TOLL OF LETHAL DRUG

AT least four people in Northern Ireland have died after taking
ecstasy in the last year.

Gordon Neil (26), from Armagh, died after taking four ecstasy tablets
at a house party last October.

A day earlier Ballykelly teenager Danielle Gibbens suffered a fatal
heart attack that was linked to the Class A drug.

Two people in their twenties from the Belfast area have also died.

Ecstasy, officially known by its chemical abbreviation MDMA, produces
both stimulant and hallucinogenic effects.

The drug can bring its users feelings of extreme euphoria and
physical pleasure.

However, its short-term side-effects are alarming - ecstasy
interferes with the brain's essential chemical functions, causing
hypothermia, dehydration or heat stroke.

High blood pressure, blurred vision, faintness and panic attacks can
also be caused. In severe cases, people have died from seizures and
strokes, as well as cardiovascular and kidney failure.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), a study on
monkeys showed that exposure to MDMA twice a day for four straight
days caused brain damage that is evident six to seven years later.

Prices of the drug have fallen dramatically in recent years, to as
little as 50p.

Dr Cathal Cassidy, a consultant in addiction psychiatry at St Luke's
hospital in Armagh, warned of the emergence of a reckless form of
drug taking, especially among young men.

He said some patients treated in the hospital's inpatient unit had
taken up to 12 ecstasy tablets mixed with cocaine, alcohol and benzos
in one weekend.