ECSTASY: THE `WE' GENERATION FINDS A DRUG FOR THE TIMES

"Just Say No!" was the anti-drug message of the '80s that ensured I
remained drug-free, until I carelessly lit a cigarette aged 18.

It was a simplistic and unsophisticated call - but it worked,
appealing to a sense of self-determination and a belief in strength of
character.

I felt confident in the knowledge that if I shunned hypodermic needles
and drug dealers dressed in black and lurking in poorly lit alleyways,
my future was secure.

But for today's youth, the abstinence message is failing. Young people
are experimenting with the so-called "love drug" - ecstasy - in
increasing numbers, and with fatal consequences in New South Wales
this weekend.

For many teenagers and young adults, the rave culture that has
popularised ecstasy dominates their social life. Relationships soon
become distinguished by drug use. "E" friendships are made during
drug-induced bouts of warmth and affection on the dance floor. The
next morning they part as strangers.

As distinct from heroin, marijuana and alcohol, ecstasy is taken in a
convenient pill form. Occasional use - and many only take E once or
twice a month - is easy to hide and cheap to support. At $50 a pop,
many believe it is better value for money than a night out on the
booze. And apart from an aching jaw from grinning so much and a tired
body, the side-effects are not easily noted.

So, on a practical level, it is easy to understand the drug's
attraction as a recreational diversion. But why the need to be
diverted, to escapewith E? In the late '90s, a hit dance track belted
out the one line in euphoric repetition - "Es are good, Es are good,
Ebenezer good". Senseless some might say, but no more so than the '80s
catchcry "greed is good".

And herein lies the key to E's growing popularity.

Cocaine was the drug of choice for the '80s "me" generation. It made
users feel confident and invincible.

The high from ecstasy is almost the opposite. It is the "we" drug,
urging individuals to step outside themselves and enjoy a communal
experience.

For many of today's youth, facing long dole queues, disillusioned with
a society that lauds status, power and money at the expense of
community, the artificial sense of "oneness" and family that E creates
is, sadly, all too seductive.