OF LIVES DESTROYED

Ecstasy may give the user thrills for the moment, but it can destroy
families and cause misery that may last a lifetime, reports CHRISTINA KOH.

THERE are no happy endings for abusers of the Happy Pill. Take the case of
a 17-year-old girl who had once been described as the "pride of her
parents'' and even scored straight As in the PMR examination.

Her life may have been destroyed by Ecstasy.

Four months ago, Angie (not her real name) disappeared without a trace. Her
father, a businessman, and her mother, a primary schoolteacher, are
frantically searching for her.

"The mother could not stop crying,'' remembers Anthony Pook, 58, who
recently retired as Perak MCA public service and complaints department head.

Pook says that from her photo, Angie looked smart and decent. An only child
from a good home, she had never given her parents any trouble.

Angie's behaviour changed after she attended a birthday party when she was 16.

"Since then, she began giving all sorts of excuses to her parents to get
out of the house in the evenings, especially on Fridays and Saturdays,''
Pook says.

"She would only return home at 1am or 2am. Sometimes she even stayed
outside overnight.''

One night, the girl's parents learnt that she had been detained by the
police when they raided a local nightspot.

A urine test confirmed that Angie had been taking drugs, specifically Ecstasy.

While her parents were rehabilitating her, the girl left for school one day
and did not return until nearly a week later.

Pook says that when the overjoyed parents tried talking to their daughter,
she barely spoke to them.

Her parents also said that they once found an expensive dyed wig, some
condoms and anti-pregnancy pills among their daughter's belongings. When
they questioned her about it, she kept quiet.

Shortly after Chinese New Year, Angie left home for the second and last
time. Her parents have not seen her since.

"I am afraid Angie has been lured into vice,'' says Pook.

He also related the case of the successful sales executive who used to earn
RM3,000 to RM4,000 a month and drove a brand new Honda Accord, while his
wife had a Proton Sage Aeroback.

Because of his addiction to Ecstasy, however, Michael (not his real name)
is now jobless and goes around on a motorcycle.

Five years ago, the then 27-year-old executive had married the 21-year-old
clerk who worked in the same company,

"He was a very promising young man. For the first three years, marriage
life was very happy and, soon after, they had a baby boy, then a girl,''
Pook says from what the wife recounted to him.

It was only after Michael travelled overseas one day and followed his
clients to a disco that he was introduced to the drug.

Michael became addicted to the stimulation and rush of energy Ecstasy brought.

"He had the urge to repeat that same feeling of excitement. So when he
returned to Malaysia, he started going to those nightspots where he could
get those pills.''

Michael would spend RM200 per pill nearly every night. The next morning, he
would be exhausted and unable to concentrate on his work.

One day the management learnt that Michael had been embezzling funds and he
was subsequently fired. After that, finding another job proved difficult.

His wife had no choice but to hand over the care of the children to a child
minder while she found work as a guest relations officer.

Pook related how the wife came crying to him. "She found out her husband
had another woman, and that she (the wife) had venereal disease. She also
learnt that her children were being abused and neglected by the child minder.''

The wife also told Pook that Michael would sometimes beat her up when she
refused to hand over her earnings to him.

"I tried to convince him to reform but I don't think I was successful,''
says Pook.

"He just shook his head, and said that he had to have it. 'Every day the
urge comes to me'. ''

Pook says what irks him most is how Ecstasy can turn otherwise good, decent
people into offenders.

"I am appealing to the Chinese society, especially the organisations and
the associations, to declare war against this unhealthy drug that can
poison the younger generation and tarnish our country's reputation.

"As citizens of Malaysia, we have a responsibility. We should set aside
political differences and join hands to fight this menace,'' he says.