Ecstasy Alone Is Enough to Kill 'Club Drug' Can Be Lethal Even Without Other Drugs or Alcohol By Jennifer Warner Reviewed By Brunilda Nazario, MD on Wednesday, September 24, 2003 WebMD Medical News Sept. 24, 2003 -- The "club drug" ecstasy may be deadly enough on its own to make a clubgoer's night out their last, a new study shows. New research shows that one in six people who died in England and Wales after taking ecstasy had not taken any other drug. Researchers say it's the largest study to date on ecstasy-related deaths and should clear up the myth that the club drug is only lethal when mixed with other drugs or alcohol. "This clears up the debate once and for all -- ecstasy alone can kill," says researcher Fabrizio Schifano, MD, of St. George's Hospital Medical School in London, in a news release. Ecstasy Kills The study, published in the October issue of Human Psychopharmacology, shows that the number of ecstasy-related deaths has risen in England and Wales each year since 1996. The number of deaths rose from two deaths in 1996 to 72 in 2001-02. Researchers found three out of four of the victims were under 29 years of age and four out of five victims were male. The study also found that in 17% of the deaths linked to the club drug, the victim had taken no other substances, such as alcohol, cocaine, amphetamines, or opiates, before his or her death. But researchers say they are concerned that ecstasy may be even more deadly when used in combination with these drugs. "Many people now combine ecstasy with alcohol at the beginning of the evening to get a greater high, then use drugs like cocaine or amphetamines to prolong the effect, before taking opiates or high doses of alcohol to calm themselves down at the end of the evening," says Schifano, "and it's a potentially lethal cocktail." Researchers say death from ecstasy isn't quick. They say it takes several hours for the hyperthermia (rise in body temperature) and brain swelling caused by the drug to take effect. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SOURCES: Schifano, F. Human Psychopharmacology, October 2003; vol 18; pp 1-6. News release, John Wiley & Sons Inc. What this really proves is that we still have a lot of research to do because people will be going back and forth on this with studies that say the opposite. Still, there's no such thing as a safe drug, anything mind altering is dangerous, even alcohol.
Really nothing new in that article. Thats why people were told to drink lots of water, but ironically some people took that as drinking A LOT of water and would die from over hydrating their bodies.
