IT S NOT often that such widespread cultural change comes in pill form.
Since making its way across the Atlantic in the late 80s, Ecstasy has impacted on music, fashion, film, literature and, well, whatever you re having yourself.
It s also lead to a level of social drug taking that would have been unthinkable in previous decades particularly in a good Catholic country like Ireland where, sure, that sort of thing doesn t go on.
From a measly 2,000 in 1993, the seizure of Ecstasy tablets in the Republic rose to 20,000 in 1994, and a shade over 200,000 in 1995. The last set of annual figures show the Gardam dealing with 460 E-related cases, a total, which they admit, is just the tip of the pharmaceutical iceberg.
As demand has increased, so prices have gone down. What started out at #20 a throw is now available throughout the country for a tenner. Not that there are any guarantees that what you re buying is Ecstasy. Of 36 pills that were tested recently in Amsterdam, only six contained a decent whack of MDMA. The rest contained either amphetamine, caffeine or, in one case, no active ingredient at all.
Detective Chief Superintendent Ted Murphy of the National Drugs Unit confirms the rip-off aspect.
A while ago, he says, we seized a large number of Ecstasy tablets which were duly sent for examination and found to contain no prohibited substances whatsoever.
While reports of E being spiked with heroin have proved to be unfounded, the proliferation of new designer drugs means that pure MDMA is almost impossible to come by.
Potentially more dangerous substances have occasionally been found in pills sold as Ecstasy, reveals a Dutch medical report. Last year atropine, a prescription drug which can be dangerous if overdosed, was found in pills with certain logos. 4-MTA was discovered in a batch of pills earlier this year, and was linked to deaths in Holland and the United Kingdom. Recently, DXM has been sold as E. DXM may be used on its own recreationally but may cause problems if mixed with Ecstasy.
More worrying still is the news that a batch of pills seized by Dutch police in January has been found to contain strychnine.
The dose of strychnine in the tablet 8mg is such that the muscular effects probably resemble those of MDMA, reads the warning that s been issued to clubbers there.
It s long been a Hot Press bugbear that there s no government-sanctioned testing of Ecstasy in Ireland, or mechanism whereby rogue pills can be brought to the public s attention. And why, if politicians are as concerned about Ecstasy as they say they are, has no official research been carried out into its long-term effects? Where the inhabitants of Dail Eireann are concerned, Just Say No has become We just don t know .
Whatever about their other shortcomings, the British Labour Party have made a genuine attempt to arm themselves with the facts about modern drug use. This extends to Jack Straw s funding of Ecstasy Use In Northern Ireland, a major behavioural study which has been conducted by Karen McElrath and Kieran McEvoy from Queen s University in Belfast.
The duo set their stall out with the recommendation that, If we are to ensure that the harm caused by such drugs is minimised, we must educate users, and potential users, with accurate information about the drug and its effects and avoid the tendency to exaggerate or sensationalise drug information.
It s a common sense approach, which is becoming more and more prevalent in the North.
There are quite a few pragmatic people in policy-making circles here who regard harm minimisation as the way forward, McEvoy proffers. They recognise that in terms of law enforcement-led control strategies, the horse has bolted. Whether we like it or not, Ecstasy is a significant part of youth culture in Northern Ireland, so let s deal with it on those terms.
Of course, that s not how it s viewed across the whole political spectrum. The Republicans, especially, are more right-wing on drugs than back-bench Tories.
What s apparent from the Queen s study is that there s no such thing as a typical Ecstasy user.
The 108 people we interviewed ranged from young teenagers to a man in his forties who takes it with his 16-year-old son. While some of our sample had experienced family difficulties as a result of their post-weekend comedowns, a gay woman told us it was feeling the way she did afterwards that enabled her to come out to her parents.
What was particularly interesting is how those who first took Ecstasy in the eighties have modified their usage. You can t go clubbing three nights a week if you re married and have kids, so what they do is plan a big blow-out every couple of months. It s very controlled and premeditated.
There were a few cases of people using heroin to come down, but the vast majority preferred cannabis. Certainly, the purist rave thing of taking a pill and nothing else has gone out of the window. What we have now is poly-drug use, more often than not combined with alcohol.
There s been no change, though, in the way basic safety measures are flouted.
If there was a Safe Ecstasy Use exam, very few people would pass it, McEvoy confirms. Clubbers still don t know, for instance, how much water they should drink if they ve taken a pill, and an alarming number think it s okay to be under the influence and drive.
While still well up in the drug-taking league table, there s no doubt that Ecstasy is less popular now than it was at the height of the dance craze.
Indicators of supply and availability reinforce the impression that amphetamines and cocaine may be the growth area in the stimulant-type drug market, rather than Ecstasy, is the verdict of the Lisbon-based European Centre for Monitoring Drugs and Drug Abuse, who add that Ecstasy-related deaths remain relatively rare .
There s also a sense locally that E consumption has peaked.
A lot of people have stopped taking it because, basically, they re bored with the buzz, proffers a Dublin dealer. They ve also got a few more quid in their pockets courtesy of the Celtic Tiger and can afford coke. That said, if there s a big dance gig on, I can shift two or three hundred pills in a night. It s one of those drugs, like speed and acid, that may go out of fashion but will always be around.
Still a major no-no here, Ecstasy has been downgraded to soft drug status in Switzerland as it cannot be said to pose a serious risk to physical and mental health and does not generally lead to criminal behaviour. That view is shared by the British Police Federation who ve recommended that it join cannabis as a Class C substance.
Once you pop, it appears you can stop.

ecstasy:
The Hot Press findings

Use has declined since the height of the dance craze, but is still significant.
The last set of annual figures show the Gardam dealing with 460 E-related cases.
In recent tests, less than 20% of pills were found to contain MDMA.
The British Police Federation want it downgraded to soft drug status.
Reports of it being spiked with heroin remain unsubstantiated.