THE AGONY OF ECSTASY

Youngsters Play With Fire In Taking Feel-Good Drug

Ecstasy, an illegal drug that combines the effects of stimulants and
hallucinogens, is rapidly becoming the Number One drug problem facing high
school- and college-age students in Central Virginia. Ecstasy is agony. Our
children are being told that club drugs such as Ecstasy are safe. This
misinformation can be deadly. Sex sells in America, and this drug is
marketed as a sexual enhancer. Innocent kids, unaware of its long-term
debilitating effects, are being fooled by its short-term pleasure.

Ecstasy (MDMA) is commonly referred to by the street names E, X, Adam, XTC,
love drug, or hug drug. It is sold in a small pill form at an average price
ranging from $20 to $35 per pill. The pills - usually white, pastel, or
bright colors - are imprinted with logos resembling popular commercial
product symbols such as car brands and computer companies.

Someone high on Ecstasy exhibits a variety of noticeable symptoms. The
normal high lasts three to four hours. Throughout this period, users have a
heightened sensitivity to light and can experience mild hallucinations.
They will want to be touched and hugged and become romantically excited as
their sensory perceptions are elevated. They will exhibit an abnormally
high energy level and extra stamina.

Ecstasy elevates the heart rate and blood pressure, and it causes rapid
dehydration as it elevates the body's temperature. Rave-goers often consume
large amounts of water that helps to prevent heat stroke. Many users suck
on baby pacifiers, lollipops, hard candy, or toothpicks to prevent the jaw
muscles from contracting and causing lockjaw and uncontrollable
teeth-grinding. The drug may cause hypothermia, muscle breakdown, seizures,
stroke, kidney and cardiovascular system failure, and even death.

Devastating Effect on Brain

Research completed at Johns Hopkins University reveals Ecstasy's
devastating effect on the brain. Researchers have found that only one use
alters brain chemistry and can cause slight permanent brain damage.
Repeated recreational use will result in long-lasting, permanent brain
damage, causing learning and memory impairment. Users can and do become
dependent. Ecstasy use also can raise body temperature to as high as 104 to
108 degrees. The result is devastating to the organs of the body. Research
also shows that damage can continue to occur throughout the brain for a
period of up to 18 months after ceasing recreational use of Ecstasy. Brain
tissue is destroyed, and the damage is permanent.

Ecstasy is becoming a popular "date rape" drug because it is a stimulant
that induces romantic feelings and heightens sexual desire and pleasure. It
is unlike other popular date rape drugs that depress the central nervous
system or tranquilizers that induce a semi-conscious state and inhibit the
memory of the rape victim. Instead of an unresponsive victim, the rapist
has a willing and able partner. Ecstasy dropped in a woman's drink
dissolves instantly. It is odorless, colorless, and tasteless.

Criminal laws addressing rape in many states require force, coercion,
violence, and non-consensual sex to charge a person with the crime. Ecstasy
provides a willing and consenting female. This poses a new problem, and
many state legislatures are rewriting their criminal codes to punish
offenders who use Ecstasy to commit date rape. In Virginia's 2003
legislative session Bradley Marrs, a Chesterfield Delegate, successfully
introduced a bill to protect Virginia women from the use of Ecstasy in a
date rape.

A More Dangerous Drug

Most of the world's Ecstasy supply is produced in clandestine laboratories
in Eastern Europe by individual criminals with little or no formal
education in science and chemistry. PMA is a drug produced when one of
these people makes a mistake in the chemical processing of Ecstasy. The
drug producer is not aware of the mistake. PMA then reaches the streets and
is sold as Ecstasy. A dose of PMA gives the user the same feeling or high
as Ecstasy for the first hour or two. Then the user will experience a
drastic rise to between 106 and 109 degrees in inner-core body and brain
temperature, depleting essential fluids and usually resulting in a fatal
overdose.

Before your teenagers go to a prom or venture to the beach for beach week,
educate yourselves by getting accurate information from Websites such as
www.dea.gov, or call the Greater Richmond Drug Alliance at (804) 379-8770.
Then talk to your kids and tell them about the dangers. Tell them to be
careful of raves and all-night dance parties where Ecstasy and other club
drugs are often easily available. Tell them you love them, and stand ready
to support them. We must help our children to understand that life is good
without drugs.