SPECIAL REPORT: ECSTASY USERS DECRY NEW LAW

Death For "Ecstasy?"

As senators debate on the contentious provisions of the Dangerous Drugs Act
of 2002, including the death sentence for the use and sale of Ecstasy, its
mostly young users are already getting high with protest.

"That's too harsh! Are you saying the senators' kids will die? Movie stars
will die?" Janine, 18, argued.

Ecstasy is the street name for methylenedioxymethamphetamine or MDMA, a
nearly 90-year-old synthetic drug that contains both stimulant
(amphetamine-like) and hallucinogenic (LSD-like) properties. Its chemical
structure is similar to methamphetamine and other synthetic drugs known to
cause brain damage.

"E" advocates say the experience with the drug is very pleasant and highly
controllable, even at its peak. They say MDMA promotes a general feeling of
understanding and acceptance of others.

On a Thursday night in one of Makati City's coffee shops, Janine and three
of her friends gamely talked about their views on the issue and the
prospect of their being sent to death row for possession of the expensive
pills a " a hefty P1,000 a pop.

"Ecstasy is only for the wealthy," the group admitted. "But why don't we
give the senators Ecstasy? Maybe they got bad vibes. Maybe after taking
Ecstasy, baka mag-group hug pa sila sa Senate, and there will be no more
squabbling among them!" laughed Monique, 19.

She and Janine, both college students, have been taking Ecstasy for almost
a year now.

"Bad vibes," they explained, is when the user is not turning "vegetable"
(relaxed) nor getting "speeded" (hyperactive) after taking the pill.

"They are the weakest links. They get weird and melodramatic. We don't like
that and so we leave them alone," they said.

Janine and Monique, along with their two male friends Enzo, 20, and Chino,
25, feel the senators should reconsider lumping Ecstasy in the same
category as shabu, dubbed the "poor man's cocaine."

Why? Because for them, Ecstasy promotes "peace, love, understanding and
respect" a " the universal slogan of "E" advocates, according to Chino.

Chino, who works as a part-time disc jock in trendy bars while finishing
his last year in college, claimed he had stopped using E ("Just weed now"),
but he had nothing but good words for the drug.

"I never once turned violent from using it," he said.

Enzo, who's been hooked on Ecstasy for three years now, also swore to have
done nothing harmful to anyone while under the influence of the drug.

Monique even bragged that she turned into a better sister with the help of
"E." "Promise!" she said. "You take it with complete strangers in a
gathering and you become instant friends, as if you've known each other for
the longest time."

After "partying" (meaning, popping the pill), Janine also claimed, she
would get the urge to embrace the people around her or telling anyone
within arm's length "I love you."

"It's more pleasurable to do things when you party," she said.

Cherry Pascual, Ph.D, a consultant of the Research and Biotechnology
Division of St. Luke's Hospital, explained that MDMA is a stimulant that
affects the brain's neurotransmitters and increases the production of
serotonin, the chemical that plays a direct role in regulating mood,
aggression, sexual activity, sleep, hunger and sensitivity to pain.

The messengers in our brain turn on our pleasure switches, which explains
why the users become excited and euphoric. And the senses become
heightened, which explains why users like to hug each other, have physical
contact, Pascual says.

But while advocates are ecstatic about Ecstasy for the feeling of
well-being it gives, studies have revealed its adverse effects.

The simplest could be jaw-clenching or teeth grinding (Monique had chipped
off a bit of her front teeth), but the most virulent effects include
hypothermia or overheating and heart attack or brain hemorrhage. Chronic
use of Ecstasy could also lead to memory loss (something which Janine
admits she at times suffers from).

But even if MDMA is dangerous (it is considered a Schedule 1 drug in the
US, illegal to possess with the intent to manufacture or distribute),
Pascual believes that death is too steep a penalty for convicted users.

"I think pushers ought to be meted the death penalty, but users, most of
whom are young adults, should be rehabilitated."

Chino also thinks lawyers should study further if the amount they have set
- - " 10 grams " - for the grim penalty is realistic. "Ten grams only, death?
It's too much!" Enzo shakes his head in disbelief.

An obstetrician-gynecologist, who has tried Ecstasy, likewise believes the
proposed penalty is too stiff and "E" should not in fact be banned. "I
would say they should be responsible if they want to use it," said the
30-year-old physician.

But a lawyer and a former part-owner of a Malate bar agreed with the
pro-death lawmakers.

"The long-term effect of Ecstasy is the same as that of the other illegal
drugs like shabu. I saw the destruction it caused among my friends who were
heavy users of Ecstasy," he said.

He had "tolerated" bar clients who used the "love pill" so as not to lose
them, he said. Now he's suggesting cooperation among owners of
establishments where most Ecstasy users hang out to curb the proliferation
of tablets that are loosely passed around. "The thing is, it's difficult to
tell Ecstasy from aspirin or most other tablets available over the
counter," he said.

Enzo disclosed there are hundreds of brands of Ecstasy going around and
that drug tests conducted on suspected users would yield nothing to indict
them.

The young group also sounded cynical about law enforcement. "We have
friends who were rounded up by the police only to be freed later because
they passed money on to the police. We cannot stop it if we have that kind
of law," they said.

Chino added: "The police raid bars and hotels and condominiums, and then
resell whatever they confiscate."

The authorities are coming in too late, though. "It's a fad and it has
waned. The peak of E was in 1999, when there were rave parties and all
that," said Enzo and Chino.

At half past midnight, the four excused themselves to go to their next
gimmick. But not without convincing us to try "E."

"That's the best way to understand it. And tell that to the senators too,"
they all said, laughing.