No love for the love drug?

What better way to start a discussion of the brain than to begin with a topic that directly impacts the brain and its functions—club drugs. The phrase “club drugs” sounds a bit outdated to me, but according to University Health Services (UHS) at the University of Texas at Austin, this group includes the increasingly prevalent drug, Ecstasy.

Recently, Los Angeles County issued a warning flier for Ecstasy—a “how-to-take-this-drug-safely flier”, if you will:



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Of course, the flier caused a massive uproar. People argue that this is a big step toward the recent trend of the drug being “normalized” into our culture. The flier was produced in response to the growing number of Ecstasy-related injuries in young adults within LA County in 2010.

According to UHS, Ecstasy, also known as MDMA, has been dubbed “the love drug” because of its ability to heighten sensory perceptions and magnify feelings of love, tranquility, empathy, and emotional connectedness to others. Ecstasy’s increasing prevalence in the young-adult world is of growing concern, as recent research has shed light on its long-term neurotoxic and neurochemical effects.

In a recent survey conducted by UHS, 9 percent of the UT Austin community has used Ecstasy in the past 30 days. With LA County arguably permitting the safe use of this psychoactive drug, there is indeed concern of this percentage rising.

I decided to have an interview with Kevin Prince, who coordinates the Alcohol and Drug Education Program for UHS to get his opinion on the issue. Prince acknowledges this growing trend as “the mystique of college experience.” College is a time of experimentation, and at the end of a long week of classes, work, and school, students just want to escape and have some fun. “The rationale behind it makes total sense,” says Prince. “But it is ultimately not achieving the goal [of having a good time]."

Prince describes the use of ecstasy in young adults as “risk-taking kind of behavior”—a behavior that causes long-term negative impacts on the functionality of your brain, especially with repeated use. However, instead of advocating the use of Ecstasy, Prince believes that LA County’s flier will actually decrease the use of the drug in the future by empowering young adults to make the right decisions.

While there is a rational argument that the flier advocates normalcy to Ecstasy, Prince believes that its ultimate goal is to reduce the harm, not encourage use. “A lot of times people will reduce or eliminate their drug use if they are educated about the drug,” Prince says. "It switches young adults from a “what’s-the-big-deal” attitude to having a better understanding of the negative consequences." 

For more information on Ecstasy, or other health-related issues, visit the University Health Services website.