THE RAVE SCENE: NOT AS MUCH ECSTASY AS THEY SAY?

........................... DREAM OR NIGHTMARE? According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, 8.1 million Americans 12-years and older tried ecstasy in 2001, up from 6.5 million the year before. Between 1995 and 2001, the number of teenagers using ecstasy increased by 140%. 92% of those who begin using ecstasy later turn to other drugs including marijuana, amphetamines, cocaine and heroin.(3) ...........................

Some young people insist the quantity of ecstasy consumed at rave parties is exaggerated. To keep their parents from worrying, they may downplay the dangers of the drug and the damage it can do.

One factor that has contributed to the increased use of the drug is widespread false propaganda that has led many young people to believe ecstasy is no more dangerous than alcohol or tobacco.

Anyone involved in the rave scene will eventually be exposed to ecstasy and will likely begin using it, even if just to experiment. But ecstasy is far from “harmless.” Those whose lives have been ruined by the drug call it “the cocaine of the rave generation.”