Pubdate: Sun, 20 June 1999 Source: Observer, The (UK) Copyright: Guardian Media Group plc. 1999 Contact: http://www.guardian.co.uk/ Author: Barbara Ellen Note: Related: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99.n631.a07.html THE AGONY OF 'SOFT' ECSTASY IS IN THE PRICE THAT OTHERS HAVE TO PAY Me and Ecstasy had this fling once. What chemical virgins don't realise is that, for most of us, getting attached to a certain drug is just like any other relationship. First, you fall in love, and spend a honeymoon period unable to comprehend how you ever managed without it. ('Where have you been all my life?') Then you hit a rocky patch, and start slagging it off to your friends, wondering whether there's any real future for you as a couple. ('It's not the illegal substance I thought it would be.') Finally, you part company, and, like any disaffected ex, feel slightly baffled by anybody who continues to succumb to its tired patter and singular charms. You know that it's no good for them, but you also know that it's no use interfering while the 'relationship' is still going strong. People just have to find out for themselves what a pointless, bogus sonovabitch Ecstasy really is. These days, I suppose you could call me a casual non-drug user, which might not be the oxymoron it first appears. If you ask me, there are a lot of us around, and we can be identified by our age (late twenties through to mid forties), our social profile (semi-retired hellraisers), and our informed acceptance and tolerance of widespread drug abuse. While casual non-users personally can't be bothered with drugs such as Ecstasy anymore, we don't really see the point of trying to stop other people taking them either. The Switzerland Supreme Court seems to agree up to a point. They have recently ruled that dealing in Ecstasy is not a 'serious offence'. While Ecstasy remains illegal, it will henceforth view it as as 'soft' rather than 'hard drug', which poses no real threat to physical and mental health. Rather amusingly, they add that, so far as they can see, Ecstasy is mainly used by 'socially integrated people, and does not lead to criminal behaviour'. Obviously, they've never seen some of the criminally bad dancing, or heard any of the hanging offence gibberish, Ecstasy users tend to indulge in when their choice of 'happy pill' kicks in. It's true though that, unlike junkies, Ecstasy users are unlikely to nick your telly or video. Even if they did, they'd probably be banging on your door at four the next morning to return it, full of love and apologies, and eager to congratulate you on your marvellous taste in consumer durables. If all this is starting to sound rather trite, I am at pains to point out that, even in my hedonistic heyday, I wouldn't have considered it a good idea to give Ecstasy a cuddly, user-friendly image. This has nothing to do with the supposed added thrill of illegality - I, personally, never paid much mind to that, just as few underage smokers or cider drinkers dwell excessively on what the law says after the first few puffs or glugs. My argument is with the naive assumption that any chemical could be categorised as 'soft'. To my mind, they are highly dangerous. Primarily for the individual taking them (while statistics prove that drug-related deaths are rare, this does not make them any less tragic or significant). But also for the rest of us. The fact that the Swiss are ready to categorise Ecstasy as a 'soft' drug doesn't alter the fact that people who take it are very hard work for the people around them. However, the same could be said of any stimulant. From alcohol and cannabis, right though to the big baddie heroin, there are always emotional, intellectual and financial kickbacks. That's why the vast majority of people tend to go through a 'druggy phase' in their youth, rather than spend their whole lives tripping over their trainers on dancefloors. When you're young, reality is either 'too much' or simply 'not enough', but. as you get older, you realise that it's really all you've got. That's why, like the Swiss, parents or British government officials shouldn't panic unduly about Ecstasy. While it is true that people start taking drugs like Ecstasy because they're bored, it is also true that they stop taking them for exactly the same reason. However degenerate the young generation might seem to you or themselves, in fact they are merely the next wave of casual non-drug users waiting to happen. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D