Navy News :: Health & Fitness

BACKYARD DRUGS: You may not actually know what you’re taking.

Research in 2005 found that ecstasy is the third most commonly used illicit drug in Australia, with approximately 20 per cent of young adults aged 20-29 years having experimented with ecstasy at least once.

This rate is particularly high when compared to other countries (Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom and the United States). The generic ecstasy user is young (mean age is 21 years), educated, employed, upper-middle class and with no criminal record.

Ecstasy (also known as e’s, x, xtc, eccies, white doves, goey, whizz, ice, uppers, go, go fast, zip, rush, love drug, hug drug and disco biscuits) is an illegal, stimulant-based drug with hallucinogenic properties. Stimulants speed up nervous system activity and hallucinogens affect our perceptions.

Ecstasy is street-speak for a range of drugs that are similar in structure to methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA). Ecstasy is usually manufactured in backyard operations and typically contains up to 95 per cent chemicals such as amphetamine, ketamine, caffeine and ephedrine. The risk to users is therefore that they have no idea exactly what they are buying, or what they are ingesting.

The effects can be felt 20 to 40 minutes after you take the drug, and the “high” will usually last from four to six hours. Any side effects generally subside within 24 hours but can last up to 32 hours. For those of you who might be tempted, ecstasy can be detected in your blood stream for up to 72 hours.

Psychological effects

Physical effects

Increased energy
Enhanced enjoyment from tactile experiences

Negative effects

Anxiety and depression
Confusion and hallucinations
Feeling as though you are outside your body
Flashbacks
Aggression
Lack of motivation
Panic attacks and paranoia
Loss of appetite
Jaw clenching, teeth grinding
Nausea, vomiting
Muscle aches, stiffness
Blurred vision, dilated pupils
Insomnia, fatigue
Increased heart rate and sweating
Dangerous increase in body temperature
Excessive water intake
Death

Ecstasy is usually encountered in pubs and clubs, rave parties and other social activities. In these situations, young people in particular tend to dance for hours, in large crowds and in hot temperatures. This environment combined with the high body temperature associated with ecstasy use can lead to dehydration. Excessive water intake in an attempt to improve hydration can prove fatal.

Is it addictive?
It is still unclear if ecstasy is physically addictive. Many users say that it’s hard to stop taking the drug and this may indicate psychological dependence. A user also builds up a tolerance, which means they must take larger and larger doses to achieve the same effect. It should be noted that this usually also results in an increase in the intensity of the unpleasant side effects.

Lethal cocktail
An increasing number of ecstasy-users are also combining it with the antidepressant drug Prozac to reduce the feeling of depression that occurs when the drug wears off. This produces a highly toxic cocktail, which may explain the increasing number of ecstasy-related deaths.

Equally dangerous is the practice of combining ecstasy with alcohol and/or cannabis in an attempt to counter the negative effects of the drug. Over the past year, Army tested 3938 personnel and 73 (1.8 per cent) tested positive. Of those who tested positive, 10 per cent had a mixture of cannabis and Methylamphetamines (METs, speed, MDMA, and ecstasy), 30 per cent METs and 60 per cent cannabis.

Things to remember
Ecstasy is an illegal synthetic drug that is both a nervous system stimulant and an hallucinogen.
Ecstasy has several effects – both intended and unintended (negative) – and can cause death in many ways, including heart attack, stroke, overheating and brain swelling.
Ecstasy use can be a career-ending activity.
For more information, visit www.druginfo.adf.org.au