What Ecstasy Can Do

The number of people admitted to Accident and Emergency departments may be "negligible" compared to those admitted as a result of alcohol, according to those who work in the field, but it is the drug's unpredictable effects on different individuals which makes its potential far more alarming.

According to Dr Desmond Corrigan, director of the School of Pharmacy at Trinity College, no one knows why some react badly or even die while others suffer no apparent adverse effects from ecstasy.

Ecstasy, or MDMA (Methyle nediooxymethamphetamin), has a number of chemical constituents that cause two separate events in the brain's chemistry. These trigger the desired effects, which, in turn, can adversely affect the body.

It should be pointed out that the clubber is rarely sold straightforward MDMA but one of its 174 "cousins" - MBDB, MDEA, MDB, 4MTA, PMA, TMA or 2CB, among them.

The first effect is the mood-altering one, which gives it the "hug-drug" label. It also induces heightened awareness, talkativeness and raises body temperature.

With increased blood pressure and adrenalin production there is an energy rush, allowing people to dance all night. These factors, combined with the usually high temperatures in many dance venues, can cause dehydration, heat-stroke, heart failure and death.

Evidence has been found that the serotonin-producing cells in the brain are destroyed after taking the drug 25 times or more. Serotonin is the substance that gives us our "good mood" and a lack of it is a factor in depression.