Last year, a 17-year-old boy in Hudson, Wis., died after attending a dance with friends. Hospital tests confirmed the presence of MDMA -- also known as ecstasy -- in his body.

Nearby, in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minn., ecstasy played a role in four more deaths in 2000. One man, age 26, died from an ecstasy overdose; a 23-year-old man died after mixing ecstasy with heroin and alcohol.

In Boulder, Colo., a 16-year-old girl died after swallowing a pill thought to be ecstasy. In a press conference, her brother reported that she drank three gallons of water before she slipped into the coma that preceded her death.

These reports clash with the growing popularity of ecstasy -- and its inaccurate image as a "safe" chemical.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) monitors patterns of drug abuse and concludes: Use of ecstasy and other club drugs is on the rise.

This is a disappointing trend in an otherwise encouraging picture of drug use among young people. According to the 2000 Monitoring the Future Survey released in December by the Department of Health and Human Services, teens' use of several drugs, including cigarettes, marijuana and alcohol, has leveled off or even decreased. But there was a significant increase in ecstasy use. The study found that past-year use of ecstasy increased for the second straight year among 10th and 12th graders and for the first year among 8th graders. Forty percent of high school seniors say ecstasy is "easy" or "fairly easy" to get.

Ecstasy is known as the "hug drug" or "love drug." Users report that it heightens their empathy and affection for other people. In addition, ecstasy's ability to act as a stimulant and psychedelic make the drug popular at "raves" -- parties that typically feature dancing to pulsating, techno music through the night.

"This drug is not new," says Carol Falkowski, director of Research Communications at Hazelden Foundation and author of Dangerous Drugs: An Easy-to-Use Reference for Parents and Professionals. "What's new is the huge influx of ecstasy into this country. In 1997, U.S. Customs seized 400,000 ecstasy tablets. In 2000, they seized 9.3 million."

"What is most disturbing about these trends is the fact that MDMA is not a benign drug," said Alan Leshner, former director of NIDA. "While users of club drugs may think they're taking them simply for energy to keep on dancing or partying, research shows that these drugs can have long-lasting negative effects on the brain that can alter memory function and motor skills."

According to NIDA, ecstasy can be extremely dangerous in high doses, leading to strokes and seizures. The drug can also cause a marked increase in body temperature, up to 108 degrees. This effect led to the heart and kidney failure reported in some fatalities at raves.

In addition, the effects of ecstasy combined with hot, crowded conditions can cause dehydration. Users attempt to compensate by drinking large amounts of water -- in some cases, enough water to fatally intoxicate themselves.

Ecstasy users need to consider even more dangers. One is that there is no known dose of ecstasy that can be considered safe. Another is the lack of quality control for illegally manufactured chemicals, making it hard for users to know exactly how large a dose they're actually consuming. And like other illicit drugs, ecstasy can be adulterated with unknown chemicals or contaminants. All these factors raise the risk of overdose, which can be fatal.

Several magazines and Web sites have featured glowing comments from users about the effects of ecstasy. Falkowski urges people to reconsider this point of view. "Don't believe what you hear on the Internet about ecstasy being harmless. It's a dangerous drug and using it is a risky, sometimes fatal proposition."

--Published February 26, 2001