O'Connor: Kids confused over safety of Ecstasy

Eileen O'Connor

Eileen O'Connor is a national correspondent for CNN based in and reporting from the Washington, D.C., bureau.

Q: Why is the Senate Government Affairs Committee discussing the drug Ecstasy today?

Eileen O'Connor: Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Connecticut, asked for this hearing because he wanted to hear from some experts from law enforcement, the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), Customs, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), etc., to find out what the government could do about the growing use of Ecstasy among children. The use of Ecstasy by eighth-graders has grown some 82 percent in the last year alone, according to government figures. Seizures of this drug by U.S. Customs has risen since 1997 by 430 percent.

Q: What does the drug do?

O'Connor: Part of the problem of the increasing addiction is that children have the perception that it's safe and part of that reason is that they are getting mixed messages. The drug is known as the so-called "hug drug" -- a love drug. Basically, it gives one a feeling of openness, friendliness to others -- it's a bit of a stimulant and it also increases brain activity. It affects seratonin uptake in the brain; it makes you feel better.

Q: How much does it cost?

O'Connor: About $20 a pill.

Q: What are the potential health risks?

O'Connor: Some studies by the NIDA which show that three weeks after taking Ecstasy, it looks like those seratonin receptors are still potentially damaged and that seratonin is not being taken in like a normal brain. So that could be a cause of mood change, such as more depression. Some studies have indicated that there could be long-term memory loss. Other scientists dispute that, and there have been other government-approved safety tests for Ecstasy by doctors who would like to use it for therapeutic reasons.

The problem for kids is that they are getting mixed messages partly from the fact that the drug comes in a pill form. America is very much of a pill-oriented society with the use of over-the-counter medication on the rise. So, according to drug treatment experts, kids think, "Well, my parents give me pills for a cold, so it must be safe."

Drug dealers, according to the DEA, are promoting this by making the pill look like aspirin or over-the-counter cold pills with designer labels, like happy faces or hearts. They are really gearing this drug toward kids and they are trying to promote the confusion.

Even though they disagree on the long-term health risks of Ecstasy, all experts agree that there is a risk because of this rising heat of the brain and the fact that as a stimulant, the kids take it in these crowded rave parties, they end up missing the signal that they are thirsty and they end up becoming severely dehydrated. Some of the kids have died from stroke. Another risk is that a lot of drug dealers are cutting Ecstasy with heroin or cocaine. That can lead kids to other drugs or possibly an overdose effect.

Q: Does the drug have any positive effects as a medicine?

O'Connor: There are some psychiatrists who believe there could be a therapeutic benefit to using Ecstasy in controlled counseling sessions because it does enable people to open up. These psychiatrists would like to get the drug off the FDA's list as a schedule one drug, which means that it's a banned narcotic, so they could use it as in controlled counseling.

Q: How addictive is this drug?

O'Connor: The jury is still out on how addictive it is; there are some who say it is very addictive, but others say it's not. One of the psychiatrists I spoke to said what they really need to do is show the effects in a controlled study. The studies they have done are on kids that have been taking other drugs, so it's hard to disconnect. But they can't do a controlled study on Ecstasy because it's a schedule one drug.