ECSTASY IS BAD FOR YOUR MEMORY

Staff and agencies

Using the drug ecstasy can significantly affect memory use, new research
revealed today.

The research by a team of scientists from the University of Cambridge and
the University of East London shows that ecstasy can lead to significant
cognitive impairment, affecting memory-use and visual recognition patterns.

The scientists used a test usually meant for identifying cognitive problems
in patients with dementia, or other neurological problems, to rate the
cognitive capacity of 20 ecstasy users against 20 non-ecstasy users.

In many of the tasks each group performed equally well, but in areas
testing memory the ecstasy users, who had each taken approximately 170
ecstasy pills over the past four years, faired significantly worse.

Dr Barbara Sahakian, from Cambridge's psychology department, who worked on
the research, said the results should "raise concern", especially because
the users in the survey were comparatively short-term users.

The findings add to an increasing body of evidence that shows the drug to
have negative affects on mental health, as well as cognitive ability. In
January, a survey published in a magazine for clubbers suggested ecstasy
users were a quarter more likely to suffer mental health problems.

In the year up until January the number of people dying from taking the
drug jumped two-thirds to 27. Death is thought to occur through
dehydration, overheating, drinking too much water, a heart attack or a stroke.

Half a million people - almost one in 100 of the population - regularly use
ecstasy in Britain. Supporters claim it is less dangerous than alcohol and
tobacco if used sensibly. But doctors and researchers have warned it could
be storing up a time bomb of mental illness as the ecstasy generation gets
older.

There is considerable public debate about the legal classification of
ecstasy. Some MPs are calling for the drug to be reclassified from class A
to class B.