Pubdate: Tue, 15 Aug 2000 Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON) Copyright: 2000 The Ottawa Citizen Contact: 1101 Baxter Rd.,Ottawa, Ontario, K2C 3M4 Fax: 613-596-8522 Website: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/ Author: Colin Grey ECSTASY 'NOT A RAVE DRUG ANYMORE,' POLICE REPORT Seizures Of Designer Drug Double Police seizures so far this year of the designer drug Ecstasy are almost double the entire haul for 1999, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police says. Across Canada, police have seized 712,000 of the feel-good tablets, with a street value anywhere between $17.8 million and $28.5 million, said Leo Vaillant, the RCMP's head analyst on drug-related issues. Comparatively, just 360,000 tablets were captured, worth between $9 million and $14.4 million in 1999. The soaring rate of Ecstasy seizures illustrates what is becoming common knowledge among law enforcement officials, researchers and the dealers and users themselves: demand for the drug has exploded as the one-time raver pick-me-up has become a drug of choice across demographic lines. Mr. Vaillant said it also indicates police are getting better at investigating Ecstasy operations -- either rings that import the drug into the country or, increasingly, labs that manufacture it in Canada. "There seems to be a shift to (domestic labs), because there is a market for that, probably more than for other synthetic drugs," he said. "It's not a rave drug anymore," said Det. Randy Smith of the Toronto police. "It's gotten into the mainstream." Ecstasy's popularity stems from many things, description of its feel-good high, the widely-held belief it has no negative side effects. "The marketing is brilliant," said Dr. Clare Roscoe, a resident in psychiatry at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. "It's got a name that's not crack or cocaine. It's Ecstasy. All of that makes it seem very harmless. A lot of people use it without a lot of side effects." But the surge in its use also comes at a time when the body of literature detailing the drug's potentially harmful effects are becoming known. More use has meant more Ecstasy related deaths. Research is beginning to detail the depression or hangover that can occur a few days following an Ecstasy high; and more researchers have become wary of its potential long-term effects, including possibly long-term damage to memory and cognitive functions or chronic depression. "Is there going to be a generation of people who are going to be permanently depressed?" Dr. Roscoe asked. Across the province, about 4.8 per cent of junior and high school students have used the drug in the past 12 months, according to a study by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto. Although figures for Ottawa are not available, Louise Logue, youth intervention co-ordinator for the Ottawa-Carleton police, said use in the city is clearly rising. "While they may have been introduced to the drugs at a rave, they clearly aren't waiting for a rave to use it." As it moves outside of raves, that means the drug is likely reaching younger and younger children, she said. But it is the increasing use among adults of all ages in the past year that has caught most people's attention and which is changing the way the drug is trafficked. Few figures have emerged, but anecdotes and news reports have begun to spread regarding the drug's popularity among adult professionals, couples, even senior citizens. That has clear implications, said Det. Randy Smith of the Toronto police's major drug unit, since it means it has gained acceptance in groups much more reluctant to take risks. "You're going to convince a 16-year-old a lot quicker than you will a 26-year-old," Det. Smith said. The growing demand for the drug has led to changes in the way the drug is supplied: where European-based rings used to send the drugs to Canada by courier, now more and more labs have popped up that produce the drugs domestically. Det. Smith said there are no estimates as to the number of labs, but there appears to be no shortage. Each investigation conducted by the Toronto police this year has turned up a lab, he said. "Every time we put our hook in the water, we catch a fish," Det. Smith said. And at the same time, medical research has begun to show that the drug might not be all good. Ecstasy is a mood-enhancing drug that makes users feel closer to those around them and enhances physical experiences. The drug is made of a chemical compound called MDMA, or methylenedioxymethamphetamine, although often impure Ecstasy or other substances are sold using its name. It seems to work by stimulating the massive release of serotonin -- a chemical that controls mood. Many researchers now think that the hangover that some Ecstasy users experience a few days after taking the pill comes from a serotonin low, following the serotonin high, said Dr. Stephen Kish of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. To counter the effect, many users recommend taking Prozac. Dr. Kish released a study last month showing that the brain of a deceased 26-year-old Ecstasy user had drastically low serotonin levels. But Dr. Kish says the evidence that has most people on alert are the indications that the drug causes long-term brain damage. Nothing is proven definitively, but recent research indicates that chronic Ecstasy users can suffer from lower than normal cognition and memory, which appears to be related to the amount of Ecstasy that has been consumed by a user. But the studies have been criticized -- justifiably, Dr. Kish said -- because many Ecstasy users use other drugs, so it is difficult to pin poor mental performance on Ecstasy alone. Also, there is often no data on patients from before they began using drugs. Nonetheless, the research is growing stronger. "My bottom line is that the evidence is strongly suggestive, but not yet proven," he said. While "the vast majority" of users likely do not suffer from the side-effects, he said, what is scariest is that few of them are even aware of the risks. "I haven't found a single user who is even aware of the information," he said. - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens