Ecstasy/MDMA attributed problems reported by novice, moderate and heavy recreational users

✍ Scribed by A. C. Parrott; T. Buchanan; A. B. Scholey; T. Heffernan; J. Ling; J. Rodgers

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2002
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 54 KB
• Volume: 17
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0885-6222
• DOI: 10.1002/hup.415

✦ Synopsis

Rationale:

The recreational use of mdma/ecstasy (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) is associated with many psychobiological problems, but there is a paucity of data on how these relate to the level of past use.

Objectives:

To assess the incidence of ecstasy-attributed problems as reported by novice, moderate and heavy users.

Methods:

763 unpaid volunteers took part in a www study of recreational drug use. this report is based on the 282 ecstasy users from that sample, who comprised 109 novice users (1-9 occasions), 136 moderate users (10-99 occasions), and 36 heavy users (+100 occasions). yes/no responses were automatically recorded to a series of questions covering psychobiological problems experienced when drug-free, which were attributed by the respondents to their ecstasy use.

Results:

Depression, memory problems, anxiety, mood fluctuation, poor concentration, infections, tremors/twitches and weight loss, were all significantly associated with the extent of ecstasy use. thus memory problems attributed to ecstasy were reported by 19% of novice users, 52% of heavy users and 73% of heavy users (chi-square 42.74, df=2, p<0.001); many of the other variables showed similar trends.

Conclusions:

The incidence of problems attributed to ecstasy use, is directly related to the number of occasions it has been used.