ECSTASY NOW COULD MEAN FORGETTING WHY LATER

The party drug ecstasy can impair memory even when taken infrequently, a
study of Australian users has confirmed.

It adds to overseas evidence about memory impairment.

Researcher Jeff Ward gave memory questionnaires to 30 ecstasy users,
similar to those undertaken by sufferers of dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

He gave the same questions to a control group who had never taken the drug
- - and the users performed worse.

"Given enough [attempts], users can learn the same things as non-users, but
it takes them longer to learn," said Dr Ward, of the Australian National
University's School of Psychology.

He said it seemed the impairment occurred when information was received or
encoded by the brain, rather than affecting memory retention or retrieval.

Previous studies have shown ecstasy affects the serotonin system of nerves
in the brain, causing hyperstimulation.

Dr Ward said the test results could not be attributed to other factors such
as differences in IQ or exposure to other drugs.

"The memory problem has been identified in perhaps a dozen studies in the
US and Europe and has found a typical pattern of lower performance on
memory tests," he said.

Dr Ward said his subjects had "used the drug quite a bit in their
lifetimes, from 10 times to hundreds of times" but the study was unable to
explain how their brain function was impaired.

A second ANU study has found that young adults who smoke, drink or use
marijuana are prone to higher rates of depression and anxiety.

Analysis of 2500 people aged 20 to 24 revealed that, compared with other
age groups, frequent users of the three substances and those who had first
tried marijuana earlier in life displayed the heaviest and most frequent
symptoms of anxiety and depression.