Ecstasy Rising

Posted by Tony Bylsma on March 12, 2010 under Drug Abuse Prevention Education | Read the First Comment

Back again, heading for the top, MDMA is rampant in schools and in the playgrounds of Los Angeles.

I have watched this trend for a while now. In the year 2000, it was everywhere in town. It was glorified by youg adults as a safe alternative to meth or cocaine and the party/rave scene was really heating up.

There was a national push to increase awareness about ecstasy and the numbers fell back to a much lower plateau. I could easily see it in the schools and our rehab counselors were seeing a little drop too. The changes that happen in the street with availability and quality show up at the treatment centers, but not right away. There seems to be a lag at the intake counter. But there is no lag in the high schools. I can watch the trends with some confidence that the story I’m getting is pretty accurate.

From the middle schools on up, ecstasy is in the schools. It is being carried onto the campus pretty boldly, in jeans pockets wrapped in ziplock bags. A young man I’ll be seeing for the first time tomorrow was busted in his California beach school with eight pills.

Freshmen in a LA county high school this past week told me that the price of e pills had gone up one dollar. They were outraged and felt betrayed by the pushers.

I don’t know what market pressures might cause supplies and prices of MDMA to fluctuate, but just the fact that that it is in the schools is the outrage. It also shows up on the middle school surveys everyday.

Probably contributing to this increase more than anything else is the stepped up promotion of the idea that E is relatively safe. The lie is common among the kids. They tell me that it is safer that alcohol. They go online and visit one of the huge pro-drug abuse websites and read only the positive aspects of the drugs.

I hear statements like, “Yeah, we know it isn’t totally safe, but nothing is completely without risk.” or, “It is safer than tobacco, and my father has been smoking for 25 years and he’s just fine!”

The need for drug education is so obvious. The amount of money we could save as a result of comprehensive and effective drug prevention education boggles the mind.

Damages from use and abuse of MDMA need to be known by youngsters and young adults alike. It must be so completely clear to them that there is no question of whether it is safe or dangerous.

THEN they can make a choice for themselves that they can live with!