[walden]

I did a lot of study on it and talking to friends last year when I became concerned that my daughter was hanging out with the wrong people. There is a lot of the brain scan evidence-- the changes are visible. As to the long-term effects? Hard to know. I know this is just one small anecdote, but a friend of a friend of mine said that she only took it once, but felt that it had made permanent changes to her personality. Scary.

[AntiGuv]

I haven't any doubt there are identifiable brain chemistry changes consequent to ecstasy use, my objection involves the allegation that: Ecstasy 'makes users depressed for life'. By comparison, a recent study of former cocaine users found discernible (though minor) after-effects one year after the cessation of use, while a comparable study found no meaningful effects three years after cessation. This article doesn't provide sufficient detail for any conclusive interpretation, but the statement that even one or two uses of ecstasy leads to lifelong depression seems extremely ill-supported, in my view.

[THEUPMAN]

but a friend of a friend of mine said
.... How can you argue with that
How big was the gov. grant that you got for that "study"?

[MrLeRoy]

There is a lot of the brain scan evidence-- the changes are visible.

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health/story.jsp?story=286213:

At the centre of the controversy are brain scans published in 1998 apparently showing that ecstasy destroys nerve cells involved in the production and transport of serotonin, a vital brain chemical involved in memory, sleep, sex, appetite and, primarily, mood. The scans used radioactive tagging to highlight the number of those nerve cells: those for non-users showed large "bright" regions but those of ecstasy users showed fewer. The pictures were used in anti-drugs advertising, and research findings used to underpin stiffer penalties for ecstasy use.

In an accompanying editorial today, the magazine says: "Our investigation suggests the experiments are so irretrievably flawed that the scientific community risks haemorrhaging credibility if it continues to let them inform public policy."

Two independent experts told New Scientist there was a key flaw a " the way brains reacted to this kind of scan, known as PET, varied enormously with or without ecstasy. Some "healthy" brains glowed up to 40 times brighter than others, and even a number of ecstasy users' brains outshone ecstasy-free brains by factors of 10 or more.

Stephen Kish, a neuropathologist at the Centre for Addiction and Health, Toronto, told the magazine: "There are no holes in the brains of ecstasy users. And if anyone wants a straightforward answer to whether ecstasy causes any brain damage, it's impossible to get one from these papers."