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Experts' warning over new ecstasy threat
by Sarah Warden5/ 5/2005
A DRUGS expert this week called for more research into ecstasy,
in the wake of the death of an 18-year-old after a night out in a
city centre club.
Sian Sadler died at home in Alderley Edge the morning after
seemingly taking the drug.
The communications director of city centre-based drugs agency
Lifeline, Michael Linnell, says drug use is changing so much that
our knowledge of ecstasy and its dangers could be going out of
date.
The advice to clubbers taking ecstasy used to be clear - wear loose
clothes, drink water and take time to "chill out".
But now ecstasy use is on the decline in clubs and Mr Linnell
believes the drug is being used increasingly by younger people and
in larger quantities. Lifeline is currently researching the new
patterns of usage.
He said: "The advice for clubbers was really aimed at the situation
in the 1990s and that's still good advice. It's about how, for some
people, ecstasy can interfere with regulation of temperature and if
you are dancing in a hot club you can overheat, and that caused
some deaths.
"There would also be advice to put to people about having the
confidence to ring for an ambulance without calling the police and
making sure that people know basic first aid."
There is no definitive figure for the number of ecstasy-related
deaths, and Mr Linnell added: "We have never had great research
into ecstasy and we have found that a lot of research was
politically-motivated.
"For instance, the number of deaths from ecstasy seemed to be about
six a year and then it was reported that some research had said it
was closer to 60. When we looked at the research, it turned out
that it included deaths where people had used a mixture of drugs,
so some were combining ecstasy with heroin.
"What we are certainly picking up at the moment is a drop in a
certain type of ecstasy use in nightclubs, partly because styles of
music have gone out of vogue, partly because of changes in
legislation and partly because the prices had dropped so it wasn't
economical to sell it any more.
"The changing patterns of drug use are that people who used to use
ecstasy now use more alcohol and cocaine. Drug use changes all the
time.
"Anecdotally, we have evidence that the age of ecstasy use is
dropping and we are researching that further at the moment. The
price has dropped dramatically and we have heard reports that young
children are paying 50p a pill for ecstasy, though you would never
be able to buy it for that price in a Manchester club.
"It's obviously a dangerous drug. The reasons for using ecstasy are
very complicated and we don't know much about it because there's
very little concentration on it and few services available.
"Our response as a society is `let's call in the sniffer dogs and
turn schools into prisons', when in fact what's needed is research.
The way we are going frightens me. A small number of people are
using much larger amounts of ecstasy, perhaps due to the drop in
the price. We are coming across a small number of people who are
taking 10 to 20 pills a day and have no idea what the effects will
be.
"The overall message is that yes, ecstasy is out of the headlines
and the pattern of use has changed. But the drug is still around
and there is no scientific research with real evidence that we can
turn into safety advice.
"Young people are using a variety of drugs, largely illegal, and we
have got to come to terms with that as a society, instead of just
offering more criminal justice which I don't think is the
answer."
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