ECSTASY: IS THE PARTY OVER?

Ecstasy has been one of the most dominant drugs in the UK club scene since
rave culture took off in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

But there are signs that the trends in its use are changing.

Earlier this week it emerged that the average price of the drug has fallen
to a record low of UKP3-a-pill.

Figures also suggest deaths related to the drug doubled in England and
Wales in 2001 to 56.

But while the average ecstasy-user is getting younger, clubbers are
increasingly turning to other drugs like cocaine as the e-inspired club
culture of a decade ago undergoes a slow metamorphosis.

Hugh Garry, a DJ and a club promoter for Garlands in Liverpool which burnt
down earlier this month, said the public's clubbing and drug tastes had
changed.

"People are looking for other ways of entertaining themselves such as bars
with late licenses that have their own DJs and cocaine use is on the up,"
he said.

Mr Garry, producer of Radio 1 Online's dance section, said: "In the old
days, people used to spend their hard earned cash on some ecstasy as their
weekend treat. Now, coke is more affordable and people choose to take that.

"Club culture has been up and down over the years. In 1998. Mixmag said
clubland was dead but in that year Radio 1's roadshow in Ibiza was its most
successful ever.

"Tastes change and dance music has changed but it's still popular. Ecstasy
just isn't such an integral part of it anymore."

Only last week, Liverpool's famous dance night Cream announced it was to
close its doors for the summer.

It is to hold a 30-day review to assess its future prompted by the shift in
dance culture from clubbing nights to festivals and arena tours.

One organisation which has some claim to have its finger on the drugs and
club pulse is Scotland's Crew 2000 - a drugs information project which goes
out to clubbers and festivals-goers on their own territory.

'Cleaner drug'

Spokesman Mike Cadger said as far as Scotland was concerned ecstasy use had
plateaued.

"Ten years ago people started taking ecstasy at the age of about 17, 18 and 19.

"These days ecstasy is being accessed much younger - 15 or 16. The price
has declined due to saturation in the market."

Mr Cadger said the mid-teens were buying ecstasy until they could afford to
buy other class A drugs such as cocaine which were perceived as being more
sophisticated.

He said: "Four years ago in Edinburgh a gram of coke would cost UKP100, now
it's UKP35. It's affordable."

Mr Cadger said recreational drug users were turning to cocaine because it
was considered "cleaner" and the recovery period was much quicker.

He said: There are also very few cocaine fatalities and when you think an
estimated 500,000 ecstasy tablets are taken every weekend, 56 deaths a year
is very low.

"More people die from peanut allergies."

'Ecstasy use stable'

St George's Hospital in London, blames the rise in ecstasy deaths on the
increasing strength of many tablets taken by clubbers.

"The rise comes at the same time as ecstasy becomes cheaper and is used
more recreationally in the dance culture by people who wouldn't normally
take it," added a spokesman.

DrugScope's Cara MacDowall is not sure the answer is quiet so simple.

"As the record low price of ecstasy shows, the numerous seizures and
ecstasy's current grading as a class A drug have had a minimal impact on
availability and price.

"As ecstasy use is relatively stable, it is obvious that levels of use are
affected by more than price or legal classification.

"It may also be that people are choosing to use cocaine rather than ecstasy
as research shows that cocaine use has risen over recent years."