Ecstasy-related death rates in young users is a major public health issue

[Chiral]

SOURCE

A paper by a University of Hertfordshire academic due to be published tomorrow (29 January 2010), reports that excess ecstasy-related death rates in young users is a cause for concern.

Professor Fabrizio Schifano at the University's School of Pharmacy, is lead author for a paper entitled Overview of Amphetamine-Type Stimulant Mortality Data - UK, 1997 - 2007, which will be published in Neuropsychobiology online tomorrow.

Professor Schifano and his colleagues at St George's, University of London's International Centre for Drug Policy, which runs the National Programme on Substance Abuse Deaths (np-SAD), reviewed stimulant-related deaths from the np-SAD database and from the British Crime Survey 2001-2007 results and found that identified 832 amphetamine and methylamphetamine-related deaths and 605 ecstasy-related deaths.

What was of more concern to Professor Fabrizio and the researchers was the fact that the fatalities from ecstasy during that period were typically identified in victims who were young and healthy.

The report, which covered an 11-year, UK-wide analysis of mortality from these drugs, noted that deaths seemed to have dropped in 2000 to peak once again over the following years and then after a drop again in 2003, it increased again over the following years.

Commenting on the findings, Professor Schifano said: "These data seem to support the hypothesis that young individuals seem to suffer extreme consequences after excessive intake of ecstasy. This is an issue of public health concern which deserves further studies."

Source: University of Hertfordshire

[FancyPants]

The big bad scientists can't even distinguish the difference between "Ecstasy" and MDMA? Or probably rather it's deliberate.

"These data seem to support the hypothesis that young individuals seem to suffer extreme consequences after excessive intake of ecstasy."

Death by hyponatremia or even hypokalemia? Big whoop, a young woman died recently in the US from drinking too much water; same problem. I had both when I had kidney infections, the potassium tablets they give you are bloody awful.

How many deaths from MDMA as compared to ibuprofen or paracetamol or even bloody peanuts?

[Korky]

The big bad scientists can't even distinguish the difference between "Ecstasy" and MDMA? Or probably rather it's deliberate.

Death by hyponatremia or even hypokalemia? Big whoop, a young woman died recently in the US from drinking too much water; same problem. I had both when I had kidney infections, the potassium tablets they give you are bloody awful.

How many deaths from MDMA as compared to ibuprofen or paracetamol or even bloody peanuts?

 

exactly, i have read that peanuts kill 100 people a year in the US. wheres the war on peanuts?

[Birdwing]

I wonder how many of these deaths are from pills actually containing pure MDMA....The amount of shit that gets cut into pills these days is rediculous...Thats the main reason most people I know refuse to take them anymore.

The golden days were back in the 90's to early 00's.

[ThunderIdeal]

that's it birdwing. is there any reliable idea of how dangerous actual mdma is? how is it fair to blame a drug for deaths caused by it's SUBSTITUTES, which only get around because of it's very prohibition?

this is a UK study so maybe substitute pills are a rarity and maybe this gives a pretty good idea about ecstasy related fatalities.... i dunno.

[Chiral]

interestingly the data is from 1997 - 2007, most of the good pure pills had disappeared by 2000 so those studies are not very accurate if they are to reliable...most pills from 1990 to 2000 were extremely potent and very pure in regards to mdma, where's those stats...?

they would be more acurate not the ones they have conducted since 97, to many cutting agents have entered the pill over the last 10 years that's for sure.

So these tests and stats are only anygood at providing information regarding pills with unknown ingriedients.

The warnings the health authorities should be telling young people is.." beware today's ecstasy doesn't contain mdma anymore...you just don't know what you are taking"

thanks to nonsensical prohibition and the world wide dogmatic war on safrole, peace loving people and the international party scene, there is now a much much greater risk of death or seizure.

oh that's right...that's the actual objective.

[MindExpansion]

The fact that they separate amphetamine related, methamphetamine related and ecstacy would suggest they mean MDMA by ecstacy to me, would be nice to read the paper before judging the research....

always good to see how quickly people snap up research that supports their behaviours or beliefs and accuse that which doesn't as inaccurate...based on a news article...on a paper which at the time of publishing of the article had not even been published itself... now THAT is true scientific method.

peace