SYDNEY STARTS YOUNGER ON THE PATH TO ECSTASY

Ecstasy users in Sydney start younger, take more, and pay less for it than
their counterparts in Brisbane and Melbourne. And a growing number of women
are joining their ranks.

These are just some of the findings of a study on drug use in the three cities.

The National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre report, Ecstasy Use in
Australia, surveyed 329 ecstasy users from NSW, Victoria and Queensland and
found patterns of drug use had changed considerably since the last major
study in 1990.

Users are now younger, more diverse, and more likely to be female. They
take ecstasy more often, more heavily and more dangerously - often mixing
it with a cocktail of other drugs.

"Ecstasy was used in a wide variety of situations, rather than being
exclusively a "dance drug'," the report found. "Ecstasy appears to have
become a mainstream drug in Australia, used by a demographically diverse
range of people in a variety of contexts."

The interview sample was characterised as "polydrug" or multiple drug
users. Most had used alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, LSD and amphetamines
before trying ecstasy.

More than 90 per cent mixed ecstasy with other drugs, while 41 per cent
drank hazardous levels of alcohol while on the drug. More than 40 per cent
did not drink enough water when on ecstasy (recommended levels are between
250 and 500 millilitres per hour).

"The maximum range of drugs they use in a session is quite phenomenal,"
NDARC researcher Mr Paul Dillon said yesterday.

"And we are not seeing more and more people start using ecstasy - the
percentage having ever used it has remained about the same - but those who
are using it are more often doing so in conjunction with other drugs."

Brisbane users combined the greatest number of other drugs with ecstasy.
They were also most likely to have injected the drug. Sixteen per cent of
the 329 users said they had injected ecstasy.

The median age at which Sydney users first tried ecstasy was 17, compared
to 20 in Brisbane and Melbourne.

The frequency of ecstasy use in Sydney was double that of the other states
- - a median 12 days in six months - and Sydney users were more likely to
take more than one tablet at a time.

Ecstasy is also cheaper in Sydney, with a median price of $50 compared to
$53 in Brisbane and $54 in Melbourne.

Among the side effects, users reported energy loss, irritability, aches,
sleeping difficulties and depression. They rated ecstasy as a moderate risk
drug, ranking it between cannabis and heroin, although 94 per cent thought
their use of the drug "safe".

"This group of people needs education on the risks associated with ecstasy
and we are not getting to them because the main dangers of drug use, such
as mixing drugs and injecting, are what we are seeing as trends amongst
this group, and I think that's a great concern," Mr Dillon said.