ECSTASY LINKED TO SERIOUS MEMORY LOSS

LONDON - Taking the drug ecstasy just once can cause significant short
and long-term memory loss, a British study has shown.

Researchers at Hertfordshire University did not find a link between
persistent ecstasy taking and continued memory deterioration,
suggesting that one-off use can be enough to cause lifelong damage.

They said 75 per cent of users have a significantly impaired memory
compared to those who have never touched the drug. Ecstasy is a
popular drug among club goers.

"It's almost as if there is a one-hit problem," study leader Keith
Laws told Reuters.

"Essentially it's the same if you take only a few, or an extremely
large amount of tablets."

Laws's team has found that verbal, and not visual, memory was affected
by ecstasy intake in their analysis of 26 studies which involved 600
users.

The average user in the study had taken 327 pills in their lifetime
with a range of 16 to 902.

Recent figures show that ecstasy is used recreationally by an
estimated 500,000 people in Britain and many users remain unaware of
the damage they are causing by taking the drug.

"Often when you ask people who take ecstasy if they have memory
problems, they say no, but when you test them, they realize that they
have serious problems," said Laws.