ECSTASY CAN DAMAGE BRAIN

BETHESDA, Md. -- The first studies of people who use Ecstasy show that the
popular club drug impairs memory and damages the brain mechanisms that
regulate sleep, mood and learning.

The early results of the studies, presented at a scientific conference
Thursday at the National Institute of Drug Abuse, found that brain damage
from Ecstasy in some cases may persist for years.

"We are finding that even a single use can produce brain changes,"
Institute director Alan Leshner says. "Now we need to find out whether
these changes are permanent or whether the brain will recover."

[Graphic - How Ecstasy releases serotonin]

The trade and use of Ecstasy have mushroomed since 1995. In that year,
federal agents seized a few hundred thousand pills. Last year, federal
agencies confiscated more than 11 million.

In a study in England, Ecstasy users had memory impairment on average 2 1/2
years after they stopped taking the drug.

Valerie Curran, a researcher at University College London, studied current
and former Ecstasy users and compared them with people who smoked marijuana
and drank alcohol.

Curran found that those who took Ecstasy on weekends in doses commonly sold
on the street and at rave parties showed more memory impairment than the
marijuana and alcohol users.

"Ex-users showed very marked impairments on the memory tests and more
difficult tests requiring concentration. Their memory did not recover even
after a year," Curran says. "Current users were very impaired in their
ability to learn."

A brain scan study by scientists at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in
New York found that people had decreased blood flow to their brains two
weeks after taking a low dose of Ecstasy. The results from the studies
resemble findings from earlier animal studies.

The studies have not determined whether the human brain may recover from
intermittent and low-dose Ecstasy use or whether the effects are so subtle
the studies cannot detect them, says Linda Chang, a scientist at the
Brookhaven laboratory.

"While we do know a lot about (Ecstasy), there's still a lot we don't
know," says Glen Hanson, chief of the institute's neuroscience research
division. "In a way, we are conducting this huge experiment on hundreds of
thousands of kids who are taking the drug at parties and thinking
everything's OK, yet we don't know what the end result will be. That's very
scary."

Also Thursday, Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., introduced a bill that would
provide the institute with extra money for Ecstasy research.

"The truth is, what we know about the effects of Ecstasy on the brain is
frightening. And what we don't know is likely to be more so," Graham says.

In New York this week, police raided an apartment and seized 450 pounds of
Ecstasy pills. Police say the drugs were worth $40 million.