Patterns of ecstasy use by drug users

To establish patterns of MDMA (ecstasy) use and relate these to other substance use, health and social problems related to ecstasy use, a multi-site chain-referral sample was recruited via the 'dance scene' in Glasgow. Two hundred and twenty-nine participants were interviewed, including 20 controls and 209 people who had used ecstasy at least once. All users used ecstasy in the context of polydrug use, in particular stimulant and hallucinogen use were significantly related to ecstasy use. Extent of ecstasy use was not related to sociodemographic data, but the group were substantially involved in illegal activities including other drug use, drug selling, buying stolen goods and a range of fiddles and criminal activities. Respondents were classified in terms of their frequency and quantity of ecstasy use (into light, medium and heavy groups) and in terms of whether or not their use pattern over the year before interview was stable or erratic. At most, users took ecstasy about once a week. Extent of drug use in general, rather than ecstasy use in particular, was predictive of more days' illness, self-attributed depression and experiences of paranoia and memory loss, Some people binged on ecstasy, mostly by taking multiple doses over a period of hours or days. Some people who had felt unwell at a dance event had taken multiple tablets and tended to binge, but others had mixed alcohol and other drugs. These data do not suggest that problems after ecstasy use are either common, or related to extent of use in a straightforward way. Pattern of ecstasy use may be important, but must be considered in context of overall substance use.