ANGER AT `ECSTASY IS SAFE' CLAIMS

Scientists have sparked outrage by claiming Ecstasy is not dangerous and
that its side-effects are imaginary.

The trio said public fear over the drug - which killed 72 people in a
four-year period in the 90s - was due to media hype.

Last night the claims were branded "despicable" by Paul Betts, whose
daughter Leah died after taking the drug in 1995.

He said: "When people say a drug is not as bad as people think it is, there
is an ulterior motive. That is despicable."

Mr Betts, of Latchingdon, Essex, said research had proved the drug destroys
serotonin, the brain's mood altering chemical.

The article - in the British Psychological Society's journal The
Psychologist - was penned by Liverpool University's Dr Jon Cole and Harry
Sumnall with Professor Charles Grob, head of child psychiatry at
Harbor-UCLA medical centre in California.

They said suggestions the drug had no long-term effect were being suppressed.

They wrote: "We are concerned the effects could be imaginary as the media
discuss a hypothesised cause-and-effect as if it were fact."

However, in the same journal, several other experts disagreed.

Australian research fellow Dr Rodney Croft wrote: "There is strong evidence
that Ecstasy does cause impairment. 'Danger' is the most reasonable message
for researchers to be broadcasting."