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The Love Drug?
By Joy Choquette
The word ecstasy is defined by Webster’s dictionary as “A state of overwhelming emotion; especially: rapturous delight . . . a mystic or prophetic trance.” Sounds great, right? But read a little further and you’ll find the rest of the definition: “A state of being beyond reason and self-control.”
Ecstasy, MDMA, E, the love drug: A popular drug in the United States, Ecstasy is favored by teens and young adults who tend to think of it as a “soft” drug. Ecstasy can be taken in different forms: liquid, powder, and the more well-known tablets, often decorated with popular logos and cartoon characters. One of the dangers of Ecstasy is the fact that it’s often cut with other drugs. Nathan, a 19 year-old, knows this because he used to deal Ecstasy. “Kids out here will buy (Ecstasy) . . . they’ll put a bunch of garbage in it. They might put in GHB, a little bit of speed—I’ve seen people put motion sickness pills in it.” Nathan no longer uses E.
Ecstasy is a member of the hallucinogen family. Often people think of Ecstasy as a younger and more harmless cousin of some harder drugs like LSD and PCP. In fact, Ecstasy is just as dangerous and has many of the same long-lasting side effects as its better known cousins. Ecstasy raises the body temperature to dangerous levels that can lead to kidney failure. Other side effects include teeth clenching, sweating, nausea, and chills. E also causes depression, making the user crave higher doses or stronger drugs to feel happy again. Kati, a 15-year-old former user knows this firsthand. “Ecstasy made me depressed. There-fore, I needed more drugs, or felt like I needed more drugs, to feel good.” That was the case for Joe who became addicted to Ecstasy and later to heroin, which eventually killed him. His mother, who found his body, was absolutely devastated. She became a drug and alcohol counselor to help other teens who were addicted. People don’t understand what it does to a family . . . [drugs are] an equal opportunity destroyer.”
One of Ecstasy’s hallmark traits is a feeling of overwhelming love and a connection to those around you. “I felt like everyone was getting along, like it was one big happy family,” says Kati, who began doing E after first dabbling in smoking, both cigarettes and marijuana. Kati, an accomplished dancer and straight-A student, loved the rush that Ecstasy gave her. “I love adrenaline . . . I love risks. I was always looking for that thrill.” First introduced to Ecstasy at a Rave, Kati quickly became hooked and began using every weekend, first with her friends at clubs and later by herself at parties. Kati says she was well aware of the risks of drug use: brain damage and death. “I just didn’t care. It seemed like everyone was doing it, and I was in such a place that I was more concerned about fitting in and being cool and living on the edge.”
Robert, a teen from the Bronx, was considering trying Ecstasy. Going to a party and seeing someone else try E helped him make up his mind. A girl at the party tried Ecstasy for the first time and started acting “crazy.” Later, Robert says, “She started burning; they had to put her in the tub with some cold water and ice . . . they couldn’t call the hospital because her parents didn’t know she was at the party.” She recovered, but Robert decided then and there that Ecstasy wasn’t anything he wanted to experiment with.
Like Ecstasy, LSD is a hallucinogen, causing lights, colors, and shapes to alter and imaginary objects to appear. Sounds like a fun trip, huh? Unfortunately, LSD can cause some other not-so-nice things to appear: extreme mood swings, bad body odor, nausea, and seizures. Some of its long-term effects include depression, anxiety, panic attacks, and Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder (HPPD), which causes trailing images, spots, and visual disturbances long after the drug has worn off. HPPD is sometimes permanent.
PCP is the most dangerous and damaging of the hallucinogen family. The side effects are similar to LSD, with the addition of drooling, coma, and suicidal tendencies. Prolonged use of PCP can cause difficulty thinking and speaking, memory loss, depression, and mood disorder.
Kati knows firsthand the long-lasting effects of hallucinogens. “I have a really bad memory, especially short-term. I can tell it’s a lot harder for me to catch on and retain information. People say all the time it’s like I have ADD. I can’t focus on one thing for a very long time.”
After 12 stays at treatment centers, Kati finally made a commitment to stop using. Says Kati, “I just wish I would have listened more—I always looked at my parents and the people who were telling me that ‘drugs are bad’ as dorks. I remember just looking at them and thinking they were goody-goody . . . but it’s just not worth it. I lost everything.” |
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