ECSTASY CAUSES BRAIN DAMAGE

Experiments on monkeys, rats and mice have shown that high doses of ecstasy cause irreversible brain damage in animals.

In 1998, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) studied a small group of habitual ecstasy users who were no longer using the drug. That study found these users had suffered damage to portions of the brain that regulate critical functions such as learning, sleep and emotion.

It is as if the brain switchboard was torn apart and then rewired backwards.

Ecstasy damages brain cells by causing the nerve branches and nerve endings to degenerate. These cells then regrow abnormally, failing to reconnect to some brain areas or connecting elsewhere to the wrong areas. It is as if the brain switchboard was torn apart, then rewired backwards.

The NIMH study indicates that recreational ecstasy users may be risking permanent brain damage that could manifest itself in depression, anxiety, memory loss and other disorders.