Three more possible overdoses at a concert

Police were likely ignorant of the band shift to Drum &Bass, otherwise they might have manned the detail at the show, just days after the other incidents. My personal bias is that high bpm D&B encourages tweaking, speeding etc. just to keep up.

your kids use alcohol or tobacco? Or vote, drive, or legally take out credit?

Let's not be obtuse here.

It isn't a matter of "letting" them use any controlled substance. That isn't realistic in the least - particularly when prescription drug abuse is far more common in their age group than "illegal" drug abuse. I don't wallow in an illusion of that level of control.

I view it as a matter of education such that, should they encounter certain drugs, they know what they are, what to expect and why people use them - and also understand the downside of use. Just say No is total bullshit, and has been all along. "Know your poison" and "learn how to make good decisions" is a far more appropriate approach that will last beyond the years they live in my house.

I have made it clear to them that ANY street drug is suspect - particularly if you are buying it at a party, from people you do not know, etc. Most suspect are drugs where you have no freaking idea what is in them ... like pills you buy at an event. Pre-rolled joints also fall into this "how can you know" category. The economics of drugs being illegal - even safe ones - mean adulteration is common. Beware!

I also tell them that they NEVER have to do what their friends are doing. Furthermore, I have told them that if their friends insist on using drugs that they find dubious, they can always "babysit" - be the sober one watching out for trouble. That's a way to be a good friend without being a stupid/dead one.

If MDMA were available in clean forms (which it was at MIT ...) and available in quality-assured form, I would give them the honest truth: it is not a harmful drug. Period. (Nancy isn't a scientist and/or was not around when there was strong medical lobbying to make it available by prescription and/or has not read any of the recent research into "dangerousness" of drugs, where MDMA ranks #3 least dangerous.) It makes you want to hug people and be kind of tedious and annoying, etc. It can, in extreme cases, make you so thirsty that you drink too much water, etc. but not in small doses.

Sorry there isn't a simple answer - but we all know where simplistic attitudes toward drugs and alcohol get us!

There's no legitimate research that shows that moderate MDMA use causes "permanent disruption of serotonin reuptake in the brain". There is some research that heavy repeated use over a short period can temporarily reduce serotonin production, but the same research has also shown that this effect is reversed simply by abstaining from taking the drug for a period of time. There's no evidence that MDMA is toxic at typical dosages. Even evidence of adverse outcomes from long-term, heavy misuse is mixed, and not considered definitive at this point. All evidence points to alcohol being much more potentially toxic, both in short-term and chronic use.

When people make broad, blatant and easily discountable generalities like the poster above, they may believe they are doing a good deed, but I think that in fact they are simply teaching the curious to treat any caution as 'chicken-little ranting'. And that can lead to a population of users who are at risk for actual bad outcomes.

First, because it encourages uncritical consumption - "Oh this guy I just met says he'll sell us some molly - I've taken X before and it was fun, let's do it." 'How much should I take? I don't know, how about four?" It's the bathtub-gin phenomena. My guess is that this is what happened in the recent ODs - someone passing off PMA or somesuch as MDMA. (PMA = MDMA mimic, easily made but very dangerous).

Second, there are some persons for whom MDMA or other related compounds pose demonstrably real physical risk. (eg people taking SSRIs like Prozac, paxil, Zoloft, etc). And there are short term issues that any MDMA users should be aware of. Dehydration and disorientation are the most obvious (and are also a problem for users of alcohol btw).

And third, like any euphoric, the repeated use of MDMA may be masking long-term anxiety or distress. People self-medicate in all sorts of ways (most commonly with alcohol and junk food, I suspect). A well-informed population is more likely to spot this sort of misuse, and understand how to address it constructively (ie not with incarceration, but treatment).

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Btw, there is a large body of positive research, starting in the 1970s, studying the efficacy of MDMA (and other empathogens) to treat anxiety, depression and other disorders. Since the 80s, most of this work has been primarily done in Western Europe, as in the US MDMA has been classified a Class I drug (for primarily political, rather than medical reasons). This means it is nearly impossible for doctors in this country to investigate it's potential positive uses.

I know of at least one study at McLean Hospital in Belmont that used MDMA for therapeutic purposes for people who were sun setting and needed to deal with dying/death.