Ecstasy danger played down

By SCOTT MacLEOD and NZPA

The illegal drug Ecstasy is less harmful than most people think, three experts suggest.

The foreign psychologists are attacking studies that found Ecstasy caused long-term brain damage and mental problems.

But some New Zealanders who see the after-effects of Ecstasy still believe taking the drug is risky.

The three psychologists wrote in the British magazine The Psychologist that the supposed bad effects of Ecstasy might simply be caused by thinking the drug was harmful.

Two of the experts, addiction specialist Jon Cole and researcher Harry Sumnall, are from the University of Liverpool.

The third is Charles Grob, director of the division of child and adolescent psychiatry at the Harbor-UCLA Medical Centre in California.

Ecstasy is said to affect cells in the brain that produce the chemical serotonin, which is know to influence mood. But the experts said Ecstasy affected nerve fibres that could be regrown.

And they said studies of Ecstasy users were riddled with problems or bias. Some papers ignored or downplayed data that suggested the drug had no long-term effects.

The experts said that many Ecstasy users took other drugs as well, and some of the people studied were a poor representation of the wider population.

The experts' criticism adds weight to an article in New Scientist magazine this year that found serious flaws in studies that found Ecstasy to be harmful. The chief medical adviser for St John in the Auckland region, Dr Tony Smith, said Auckland intensive care services dealt with about one case a year of an Ecstasy user with life-threatening problems.

"Alcohol is still far and away the biggest problem-causing drug we see," he said.

The national manager of Salvation Army addiction services, Major Alistair Herring, said Ecstasy users were starting to turn up at Bridge centres and the Army wanted it to stay illegal.

"We certainly regard it as something that ought not to be taken lightly," Major Herring said.

Three people are known to have died from taking Ecstasy in NZ.

nzherald.co.nz/health