STUDY REVEALS THAT ECSTASY DRUG IS LETHAL

A recent European study suggests that the drug called "ecstasy" (MDMA)
is deadly when taken on its own.

Human Psychopharmacology -- a medical research journal from England --
published the findings of the study in their October issue.

According to the study, 17 per cent of ecstasy-related deaths resulted
when the victim had taken ecstasy and no other drug, and four out of
five were male victims.

"I think the male predominance simply reflects the fact that young
males are, in general, heavier users of all drugs than females are,"
said Dr. Harold Kalant, a professor at the Department of Pharmacology
at the University of Toronto and author of The Pharmacology and
Toxicology of "Ecstasy" (MDMA) and Related Drugs (2001).

"It isn't that males are biologically more vulnerable. It's simply
that if you use more, you stand a greater chance of suffering harm
from it."

Patrick Bartens, a second-year multimedia design student, said he
tried the drug but doesn't do it anymore.

"I experimented when I was younger," he said. Bartens said he believes
that everything has a risk.

"Going to sleep can kill you," he said. "[ecstasy] can kill you, but
so can everything else."

Kalant said that recognizing a person that has taken ecstasy may not
be as easy as it seems.

"A number of other drugs can have closely similar effects," Kalant
said. "But you can at least have reasonable grounds for suspicion if
somebody you know seems far more excited, talkative and irrational
than is usual for that person." He added that if the person is
sweating and thirsty, they may have used ecstasy.

"Ecstasy can kill you, but so can everything. . ."

Irene Bond, a full-time registered nurse at the Humber College Health
Centre, said not many people have come to the health centre with
ecstasy-related problems.

"It's more of an underground issue," she said, adding that the health
centre is willing to help anyone who may want to talk about ecstasy or
need rehabilitation services.

For more information on drug use or rehabilitation, visit the Humber
health centre, or call the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
information line at 1-800-463-6273.