Pubdate: Tue, 19 Feb 2002
Source: Columbian, The (WA)
Copyright: 2002 The Columbian Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.columbian.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/92
Author: Jeffrey Brockway
Note: Jeffrey Brockway is the program manager of Solutions Employee 
Assistance and Chemical Dependency Services at Southwest Washington Medical 
Center. He is also a member of the Clark County Substance Abuse Advisory Board.

ECSTACY JUST THE LATEST DRUG THREAT

I appreciated the candor of former Vancouver City Councilman Jack Burkman 
and his family, who talked about their struggle with substance abuse in a 
Jan. 31 story, "Choosing family over politics." The courage of Cassie 
Burkman to share her story was very inspiring.

Having been involved in the chemical dependency treatment field since 1987 
and having children of my own, my heart went out to this family and to 
everyone who has come into my office asking, "Can you help us? Our kid is 
on drugs." The drugs run the gamut from tobacco and amphetamine to LSD and 
heroin.

It seems with each new crop comes a new trend in drug use. Alcohol, 
marijuana and nicotine almost always seem to be the staples of a drug 
seeker's chemical diet. The use of these harmful drugs waxes and wanes but 
remains essentially stable, probably because of the number of adult users 
who continue to stabilize statistics by their own use and their condoning 
it among their children.

Teens, however, are a horse of a different wheelbase. The recent rise in 
the use of MDMA, or Ecstasy, is a case in point.

Ecstasy is not new. It is being packaged in a new way with expert marketing 
skills. It comes with more than 150 dye stamps, such as the Nike "swoosh" 
and the Mitsubishi star.

Ecstasy is a psychoactive drug with amphetamine-like and hallucinogenic 
properties. It gives those who use it an intense high by accelerating the 
release of serotonin in the brain, producing feelings of love and 
acceptance emotions teens almost crave.

An increasing number of adolescents view Ecstasy as a low-risk, high- 
benefit drug, much the same way that an earlier generation once viewed 
cocaine. Some point to the death of NBA hopeful Len Bias as the "end of the 
innocence" about cocaine. The media got on the bandwagon and started 
reporting the dangers and consequences of cocaine use, despite Eric 
Clapton's insistent, big-as-life anthem, "she don't lie."

But, back to Ecstasy. In the 2001 Partnership Attitude Tracing Study, 12 
percent of the 6,937 teens surveyed said they had tried Ecstasy at some 
point, up from 10 percent in 2000. Since 1995, Ecstasy use has climbed 140 
percent. The survey also found that one of 10 teens reported using in the 
past year, and one of 20 did so in the past month.

The Partnership for a Drug-Free America reports that nearly 3 million teens 
have now tried Ecstasy. This puts it ahead of or on par with teen 
experimentation with cocaine, crack, heroin, LSD and methamphetamine. It is 
available on the streets for between $10 and $40 a pill.

Poisons the brain

Studies show MDMA causes massive destruction of serotonin neurons. This 
alarming brain damage has been demonstrated by positron emission tomography 
brain-imaging studies. This damage is persistent and believed to be 
irreversible. Additionally, deaths from Ecstasy are becoming more common.

The dangers are not widely understood. If you're a parent, I encourage you 
to become informed about this drug that the National Institute on Drug 
Abuse says "poisons the brain" because, as an increasing number of parents 
are finding out, this poison can be deadly. What some teens describe as the 
"harmless high" is not.

Stephen Pasierb, president and chief executive officer of the Partnership 
for a Drug-Free America, asks, "Will it take a high- profile Ecstasy death 
or the death of dozens of everyday people before the nation applies the 
lessons of its harsh experience with cocaine to its handling of Ecstasy?"

It is possible to change attitudes and reduce drug use through prevention 
and early intervention efforts. Parents can play a critical role. For the 
sake of our children and our community, let us become better informed and 
take action.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom