Newsgroups: alt.drugs
From: [an 33392] at [anon.penet.fi] (El Poeta)
Date: Fri,  4 Feb 1994 06:33:04 UTC
Subject: MDMA issue getting hot in Spain

    Hello again from Spain. This issue about MDMA is getting hot here.
This is a column that appears today in an important Spanish newspaper
("El Mundo"), in a two-page covering of the subject (translation mine,
so expect many errors).

                    The specialist:  Michael Gossop

                   After heroin, alcohol and cocaine

It's not known exactly which are the secondary effects that can derive
from continuous use of "ecstasy". From a technical viewpoint, the drug
does not produce addiction. It has nothing to do with alcohol or heroin.
In fact, we still don't know anybody who need take "ecstasy" every day
as occurs with another type of drugs like heroin or alcohol. "Ecstasy",
MDMA, is a social drug that is used only on weekends and, furthermore,
not on every one. The more likely is that those who consume these pills
during Saturdays and Sundays do not use them the other days in the week.
In fact, those who ingest "ecstasy" do it sporadically.

                              * * * * * *

It is very unlikely that the drug produce permanent brain damage, except
if consumed in very high doses. However, another question would be the
chronic encefalopathy (sp?) secondary to convulsions kept because of the
mentioned product.

The people who have more experience with "ecstasy", those who have
consumed it for more time, have done it always occasionally and have 
passed long periods of time without ingesting it. Under this
considerations, permanent brain damage is very rare.

Nevertheless, we must not be categoric about any assertion. Even with
the consumption of legal medicines many year pass before a serious
secondary effect that was not known in the short-term studies is
described. Let's think, simply, in cigarettes and the long time needed
to see their lethal consequences. Although in some persons psychological
dependence may occur, the drug, technically, is not addictive.

In any case, the definition we have nowadays of dependence is changing
to take it out from the purely physical frame and introduce it,
also, in the psychical frame. Cocaine is a typical example of psychological
addiction. Even having into account what now is known as psychological
addiction, the number of psychologically addicts to "ecstasy" is very
low because the addictive potential of the product is not excessively
severe. The drugs that are causing more serious problems in countries
like United Kingdom, Spain and Italy are heroin, alcohol and cocaine.
This because it is worthless to talk about "cannabis". However, people
don't want to realize the truly problem that represent another types of
drugs, more socially admitted, like alcohol.

                              * * * * * *

It is one of the most serious problems about health and drugs to which
different civilized societies are facing up, and it is not been paid
sufficient attention. Society can, for a moment, divert its attention to
another things, like now is happening with "ecstasy", and forget about
alcohol that is, along with tobacco, the thing that more death and
suffering is producing at the present time in society.

"Ecstasy" is not a safe drug, but compared with other, some of them
legal, the position that occupies in the scale of danger is rather low.
At the moment, MDMA is not a product that society have to worry about
too much.
_

Michael Gossop is an expert about Addictions of the National Addiction
Center of London and consultant of the WHO.
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