Ecstasy is the best known of the designer drugs, because of its name and low price. Known on the street as Ecstasy, XTC, E, or Clarity. On the street, rave-goers have labeled Ecstasy "the love drug." News reports document it as a killer.

Study Finds Ecstasy Especially Deadly for Young Users

Ecstasy is a stimulant like various classes of amphetamines, but the popular club drug is more likely to kill young and otherwise healthy users.

U.K. researchers who studied ecstasy and amphetamine related deaths found that ecstasy-related deaths were more common among "victims who were young, healthy, and less likely to be known as drug users."

Study author Fabrizio Schifano of the University of Hertfordshire said that ecstasy seemed to have a higher "intrinsic toxicity," particularly among users ages 16-24. Schifano speculated that the deaths could be related to the fact that adolescents' brains are still developing.

The study was published in the journal Neuropsychobiology.

Ecstasy Can Quickly Hurt Brain

Basically, it is a cross between an amphetamine and a hallucinogen and is taken in pill form. As a stimulant, it unleashes energy and is commonly used to help kids stay awake at a rave. Users also experience surreal, visual distortions.

Brain damage is only one potential problem. Ecstasy or MDMA decreases the body's ability to regulate temperature. Kids are taking Ecstasy at raves and ending up with heat stroke.

Often kids at these drug fests get so revved up, they unwittingly mix different drugs. Youngsters who take Ecstasy or any illicit drug given away or peddled at giant gatherings take an immense health risk. “You never know what’s going to be in it, “ says the Drug Enforcement Administration’s expert on designer drugs. “We’ve seen Ecstasy pills that are only Excedrin and others that are pure amphetamine.”

Ecstasy has a long list of known and suspected negative effects on abusers. It pumps up the heart rate and blood pressure, so users may become hyperactive. It can produce blurred vision, fainting, chills, sweating, muscle tension, and disorientation due to such effects as panic, anxiety, depression, and paranoid thinking.

For more information go to: http://www.streetdrugs.org

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