107th Congress

Report: Ecstasy and Club Drugs: A Growing Threat To The Nation's Youth - Hearing Before the House Government Reform Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy and Human Resources - September 19, 2002

Members Present

Representatives Mark Souder (R-IN), Chairman; Elijah Cummings (D-MD); Jo Ann S. Davis (R-VA); and Danny Davis (D-IL).

Witnesses

Panel One:

Asa Hutchinson, Administrator, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Department of Justice; Glen R. Hanson, D.D.S., Ph.D., Acting Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Panel Two:

Kate Patton, Kelley McEnery Baker Foundation (KMB); Lynn Smith, former ecstasy user; Terry Horton, Medical Director, Phoenix House

Purpose of Hearing: The purpose of the hearing was to focus attention on the illicit and illegal use of ecstasy and other "club drugs." The Committee wanted to hear from the witnesses about the extent of the ecstasy problem; methods to educate parents about the danger of ecstasy and club drugs; and Federal efforts to address the problem.

Summary

The hearing chiefly addressed strategies to combat the problem. Dr. Hanson's testimony provided the latest scientific research data which indicates that ecstasy and club drugs cause long-lasting negative effects on the brain, altering memory and other behavior. Dr. Hanson testified that:

• club drugs such as MDMA (ecstasy) can be extremely dangerous, even when used just once, and significantly depletes brain serotonin
• MDMA use has been rising steadily since the early 1990's—currently, more than eight million young people have used MDMA at least once in their lifetime.

Representative Souder noted that it must be challenging for NIDA to research the interactive effects of all of the various chemicals that are combined in MDMA. He asked how does NIDA look at these issues and what impact such combinations have on a human body. Dr. Hanson responded that it is not very often you find a person who has overdosed on ecstasy alone; it is almost always in combination with other substances. Dr. Hanson explained that if this person has serious medical consequences or actually dies, the question is whether or not it was caused by ecstasy or was it caused by methamphetamines, alcohol, GHB, or, a combination and interaction of all of those things. Those are difficult studies to do, which can not be done in humans. It becomes more problematic when NIDA does the animal models because the critics contend that animals do not predict what happens in humans—although that's not true, it is a criticism. Dr. Hanson explained that it is a very complex problem to solve.

The second panel of witnesses focused on a young woman who told the Subcommittee about her previous addiction to ecstasy, a parent who lost a daughter to an ecstasy overdose and the medical director of a drug treatment program.

Opening Statements

Former-Representative Hutchinson testified that the use of club drugs is the number one drug problem among 18 to 25 year olds in our society. It is a growing problem and an enormous health problem, Representative Hutchinson told the Committee. Ecstacy used to be primarily available at Rave clubs, but now it is readily available on the streets. This drug is usually taken with other club drugs such as GHB, a central nervous system depressant, and GBL. It is difficult for the DEA to prosecute rave promoters because they do not directly distribute the club drugs. The DEA has used the crack house statute to prosecute rave promoters because the promoters are not distributing the club drugs themselves but providing a venue in which drugs are sold and used. Also, 80 percent of MDMA is produced in the Netherlands and Belgium.

Dr. Hanson informed the Committee that drugs such as MDMA, methamphetamine, ketamine, rohypnol, and GHB are reportedly being used at alarming rates among adolescents and young adults in a wide variety of social settings including raves. Dr. Hanson said that substantial scientific evidence demonstrates that these drugs are not benign and harmless as they are often perceived by some users or sometimes portrayed in the popular media. The fact that MDMA is being used by some on a daily basis points to a process of dependence and addiction. Studies conducted in both laboratory animals and humans show that most of these drugs can have long-lasting negative effects on the brain and altar memory and other behaviors. There are medical examiner reports which indicate that these drugs are often mixed with other substances, including alcohol, and we have a challenging and complex public health problem that needs to be addressed. Dr. Hanson told the Committee that the world's leading researchers gathered for a scientific meeting this past summer on ecstasy. The message that emerged was that for some people MDMA can be extremely dangerous, even when used just once. Repeated use over time can damage critical brain cells and the brain chemical serotonin in ways that can have long-lasting effects. There is some evidence that ecstasy users are using several other drugs, such as marijuana, cocaine, and ketamineBit is very unusual to find a pure ecstasy user, Dr. Hanson told the Committee. This poses scientific dilemmas in determining the extent of damage to an individualBwhether its solely ecstasy or the combination of other drugsBwhen assessing the impact of the use of one drug alone.

Questions

Representative Souder to Dr. Hanson:

• At NIDA, do you have any idea the current range of dollars we=re spending to study impacts of this drug and other drugs on the human body?
• Has that budget been fairly even, in the sense of adjusted dollars? As we get new drugs that come in, do you switch some of the dollars?
• How do you research that on the interactive effects of different drugs? How do we look at that and the impact that has on a human body?
• Do you do research into possible recovery on things? Do you believe that after usage of ecstasy, you can? In other words, that's the natural phenomenon, but are there treatment methods that give hope for recovery? Do you study those type of things too?

Representative Cummings to Dr. Hanson:

• What do you think of the ads (ONDCP's ad campaign against ecstacy)?
• You talked a little bit earlier about productivity and the job. I assume a person can be taking ecstasy every other night, or whatever, and still go into a classroom and do fine. Is that right?

Kate Patton testified on the effects ecstacy has on a family. Her daughter was killed by an accidental overdose of ecstacy. In memory of her daughter, Ms. Patton started the Kelley McEnery Baker Foundation for the prevention, education, and awareness of ecstasy use. Ms. Patton was a part of the initiative to get "Kelley's Law" passed in Illinois. This law targets criminals who seek to profit from selling illegal club drugs. It took effect on January 1, 2002.

Lynn Smith testified as a survivor of ecstacy use and as a current advocate against the use of the drug. She spoke about her introduction to the drug and the easy availability of ecstacy. Ms. Smith used the drug heavily for a 5-month period which lead to a downward spiral in her life. This spiral ended in an incident that caused hallucinations and admittance into the psychiatric ward of a hospital. She is now a volunteer with a Partnership for a Drug Free America, and she still suffers adversely from her previous ecstacy use.

Dr. Terry Norton, a physician and medical director of Phoenix House, has observed a rising incidence of the use of club drugs among teens and young adults. He believes because of the glamorization of ecstacy in Hip-Hop, minority youth entering Phoenix House in New York City has grown because of ecstacy use. According to Dr. Norton, ecstacy is associated with elevated activity, sleep, mood, anxiety disorders, as well as possibly enhancing vulnerability to other psychiatric problems. When looking at the behavioral impact of chronic ecstasy use, the outcomes at Phoenix House are similar to the patterns seen with the use of heroin and cocaine. Other risks elevated by the use of ecstacy include HIV risk behaviors, loss of career opportunities, disruption of education, criminality, and recurring psychiatric and psychological problems.

Prepared by Linwood Corbett and Shalanda Young, OD/OLPA