ERROR NULLIFIES RESULTS OF ECSTASY STUDY

Washington- A prestigious scientific journal is retracting a study
about the effects of the drug Ecstasy on the brain because the animals
used in the research were given a different drug.

The researchers blamed the error on a labeling mix-up.

Scientists at Johns Hopkins University reported in September 2002 that
key neurons in the brains of squirrel monkeys and baboons were damaged
when the animals were given doses of Ecstasy that mimicked those often
taken by users of the drug during all-night dance parties.

In retracting the story, the journal Science said yesterday that the
researchers discovered that labels on drugs supplied to them by an
outside company were incorrect and the animals had actually been given
a different drug, methamphetamine.

Methamphetamine would be expected to produce the brain damage seen in
the animals, the researchers said in their retraction.