ECSTASY CAN CAUSE IRREVERSIBLE BRAIN DAMAGE

Abuse increase in Sweden. The drug is on a decline in most EU-countries.

Vienna. The last year's drug of choice looses popularity among EU-citizens.
On the other hand, however, there is an increase in amphetamines, which are
probably going to be more important than ecstasy in the future. It is made
clear by a report for 1998 from the EU's so called drug observatory in
Lisbon. The report is published today, Friday, in Vienna. Sweden is one of
few countries where consumption of ecstasy still is increasing. The Drug
observatory's view on ecstasy has changed since the last year's report. At
that time, in 1997, ecstasy was considered to be a futuristic drug, and its
harmful effects were considered to be insignificant. Today a new knowledge
is added. "More and more points to that many consumers of ecstasy, whom
have taken the drug for many years, can be affected by irreversible damages
on the nerve system," says Richard Hartnoll, director of the Drugcentre's
epidemiological department. That knowledge seems to have reached the
consumers as well. But a more important cause for ecstasy's decline is,
according to Richard Hartnoll, that its no longer seems to be modern. "It
was a part of a youth culture in Holland and Great Britain for ten years,
but there is ecstasy considered to be just one of many drugs," he says. To
countries like Sweden and Finland, ecstasy arrived much later, and one
might assume that the decline will arrive there also, probably with a delay
of a couple of years.

Cannabis is still EU's most used drug. Between 5 and 30% of the population
has used the drug, though the consumption in most countries is stable.

Its harmful effects are, according to the Drug observatory, insignificant,
and cannabis use puts an insignificant trace in treatment statistics. The
number for cocaine use varies between 1 to 3% in the EU-countries, and the
increase of cocaine abuse is marginal.

For heroin the number is between 0,2 to 0,3%, but high death rates between
abusers is unproportionally large and recurs unproportionally large costs
for medical treatment and social services.

Sweden and Finland are the only EU-countries where amphetamine causes more
costs for society than heroin. The Swedes are relative low consumers of the
most types of drugs except for amphetamine, which could give support for
Sweden's in EU-contexts exceptionally determined fight against "soft" drugs
like cannabis for example. But no one of the researchers at EU's drug
observatory can see such a connection. "We actually don't know how
different strategies affects drug consumption in different countries," says
Swedish Margareta Nilsson at the drug observatory. One must consider
availability and cultural differences.

Checked-by: Richard Lake