ECSTASY'S HIGH-RISK AGENDA

More than 2,000 ravers recently took over the "saloon" of a derelict Wild
West theme park in Fleurines, near Paris. They danced till dawn to the
ear-splitting sound of hardcore techno that races along at more than 200
beats per minute. A generator dimly lit the DJs' consoles and a bar, where
cans of beer and Coca-Cola were selling for about $1.50. The dancers'
average age was around 25. Less than a quarter of them were women. The
atmosphere was unaggressive and convivial.

Drugs were being sold and taken openly. People lit up joints. Pills changed
hands and were immediately swallowed. Drug dealers were offering "taz"
(Ecstasy) and "speed" (amphetamines).

Some dancers were sucking lollipops to counteract the clenching of the jaws
caused by amphetamines. Others were inhaling laughing gas (nitrous oxide)
from toy balloons. One man began to stagger. His friends helped him out to a
makeshift "chill out".

Youngsters who attend such unauthorised raves get a kick out of playing at
being outlaws. Admission is free, but difficult to obtain. First you have to
send an email with your address to get a password that will allow you into
an internet techno site. This provides you with a voice message telephone
number and access code.

On this occasion, an hour before the rave a voice indicated where the
meeting point would be (a hypermarket car park), adding that "psilos"
(hallucinogenic mushrooms) would probably be available. A pilot car turned
up and led the convoy of ravers to Fleurines, 10km away. The gendarmes and
the local council had been caught on the hop. "They've already been there
once," says the mayor, Michel Desprez. "On the two other occasions we were
alerted and able to block off all the roads."

At Fleurines, as at more commercial raves, the techno culture combines
dancing marathons with the consumption of synthetic drugs. It has become a
huge phenomenon since the beginning of the 90s. But the hedonistic image of
Ecstasy - or methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), to give its scientific
name - has been seriously dented.

"The dangerous nature of synthetic drugs and Ecstasy was long
underestimated," says Nicole Maestracci, president of the Interministerial
Mission to Fight Drugs and Drug Addiction. "There is now a consensus among
scientists that MDMA results in medium- and long-term neuronic degeneration,
which varies depending on the individual. But our experts don't know whether
the destroyed neurones can regenerate or how."

This embryonic health scare is all the more worrying because the use of
synthetic drugs is now regarded by the public as perfectly normal. "The
techno movement has been the main vehicle for the booming Ecstasy market,"
one study noted. At least 30% of those taking part in techno raves are
thought to take Ecstasy and amphetamines. The effects they seek are
euphoria, empathy and physical well-being.

Will the warnings issued by the health authorities get through to the
ravers? Since they do not regard themselves as drug addicts, many of them
tend to pop pills without bothering to find out what they contain.

There is no control over what goes into Ecstasy. Of 95 pills and capsules
handed over to Medecins du Monde representatives, 40% were found to contain
medicines (anti-malarials, tranquillisers); 25% consisted of MDMA in widely
differing quantities and, in half the cases, mixed with amphetamines or
opiates; 25% of the pills were made up of amphetamines; and the remaining
10% contained other psychotropic substances.

Mdecins du Monde says a wide range of such substances are used at techno
raves. Although Ecstasy remains the most popular, stimulants such as
amphetamines and cocaine, as well as anaesthetic products including ketamine
and GHB (Gamma hydroxybutyrate), are also increasingly used.

Despite its reputation for being harmless, even unadulterated Ecstasy can be
dangerous. "MDMA can have an acutely toxic effect on the cardiovascular,
hepatic and metabolic systems," says neurologist Michel Mallaret. "It can
cause a very high temperature, a fall in the sodium content of the blood,
and convulsions. The classic recommendation that it is a good idea to drink
a lot of water can prove dangerous and even fatal in such cases."

Cases of death are rare, which only causes people to underestimate the risk.
"Similarly, acute and subacute hepatitis can occur several days after the
consumption of Ecstasy, and here again people aren't aware of the danger,"
Mallaret says.

Ecstasy's neurotoxicity is also worrying. In experiments MDMA has been shown
to cause "immediate and massive releases of serotonin and, to a lesser
degree, dopamin and noradrenalin into the central nervous system", according
to the French National Health and Medical Research Institute (Inserm).

The institute's Professor Jean-Pol Tassin says: "In 14 people whose brains
were explored with a positron camera, there was a 30% diminution in
serotonin nerve endings." The number of people investigated may seem small,
but, as Professor Georges Lagier, head of the pharmacological laboratory at
the Fernand-Widal Hospital in Paris, points out: "The consistency of the
animal and human toxicological data is remarkable. It shows that people who
have taken Ecstasy suffer from memory problems, depressions, and obsessional
or compulsive behaviour."

The market in synthetic drugs is booming. Consumers do not have to pay very
high prices - $15 for an Ecstasy pill and $7.50 for a tab of acid or an
amphetamine tablet. The manufacture and transport of such drugs is much
simpler and less risky than that of natural drugs such as cannabis, opiates
or cocaine.

Their production in secret laboratories also means it is possible to change
the structure of the molecules slightly. That means the effects of the
product can be varied, and it makes it possible to avoid getting put on the
list of banned products.

Within the past decade the drugs scene has changed profoundly. The European
Union has become a big producer of synthetic drugs, which do not depend on
seasonal harvests. Their manufacture is a cottage industry run by people on
the fringes of society. They use formulae that can be found on internet
sites. Someone with a little experience of chemistry and a small manually
operated pill-making device can turn out a pill a minute.

At a more industrial level, 35 laboratories have been closed down in the
Netherlands. EU police experts believe that large traffickers are probably
using chemists and manufacturing facilities in eastern Europe. Such
facilities can produce 100,000 pills per hour. With a unit cost price of
around 25 cents, there are enormous profits to be made.

"Compared with cocaine or heroin, trade in synthetic drugs offers
traffickers nothing but advantages," says the Central Office for the
Repression of Illegal Trade in Narcotics, which reports that more than 1m
Ecstasy pills were confiscated in 1998. "They are the drugs of the future,
and trafficking in them is beginning to become better structured - though
organised crime does not yet seem to have muscled in on the act."