Alcohol and Drugs History Society

Social history of the American tavern, 1750-1820s (book in progress)

Nancy L. Struna, professor of American studies, University of Maryland, research in progress tentatively entitled, "Transforming the Ordinary: A Social History of Taverns, 1750-1820s." For details, see here.

Meth-laced ecstasy common in American schools near Canadian border

Meth-laced ecstasy has become common in American schools in the states near the Canadian border. Although the drugs are smuggled from Canada into the USA, the ultimate source for the drugs appears to be China and India. For more, see here.

Youthful abuse of cough and cold medicines to get high

According to a 2006 study, 3.1 million Americans aged 12 to 25 have used cough and cold medicines to get high, a figure much higher for this age group than those who used methamphetamines. The same study showed that for this age group 82% have used marijuana and nearly half have used inhalants or hallucingens such as LSD or Ecstasy. For more, see here.

Allen Ginsberg and the 'politics of ecstasy'

An essay by Tobias Peterson for Popmatters entitled "Allen Ginsberg: The Politics of Ecstasy" can be found here.

Blizzard of drugs from Canada

In the last decade, Canadian organized-crime groups, particularly Vietnamese, have become a major supplier of high-quality marijuana and potent ecstasy tablets in U.S. markets, according to reports by the U.S. and Canadian governments.

Read more here.

Ecstasy in Australia

Australia is a leader in consumption of the so-called party drug Ecstasy. About three per cent of the population use it fairly regularly. A hundred thousand pills are consumed each weekend. For more, see the article in the (Melbourne) Age, 7 January 2006, here.

The Ecstasy and the agony

As the first wave of Ecstasy users reach their forties, research suggests that the drug can cause long-term brain damage.

The Times (of London) reports.

Drug-taking BBC presenter

According to the (London) Observer, 8 Oct. 2006, the BBC has defended its star presenter Graham Norton who recently admitted in a magazine interview that he has taken "loads of drugs." For more, see here.

More ecstacy use in Australia

Australia's The Advertiser reports (May 25) that more Australians are using Ecstasy. Link here.

Ecstacy rage

Years ago in the US, there was a strange crime that for whatever reason got way too much coverage on the national news. Just the other day, one of the people involved blamed her role on Ecstacy use.

The Ecstasy made her do it. Amy Fisher says she was strung out on the club drug when she shot her boyfriend's wife in the face in 1992.

"I was using Ecstasy, a lot of Ecstasy," Fisher, nicknamed the "Long Island Lolita," tells "Entertainment Tonight" in an interview that was to air Thursday. "I had no control."

Anonymous AP story here.

I see your 40,000 ecstasy pills and I raise you...

Doctors from London University have revealed details of what they believe is the largest amount of ecstasy ever consumed by a single person. Consultants from the addiction centre at St George's Medical School, London, have published a case report of a British man estimated to have taken around 40,000 pills of MDMA, the active ingredient in ecstasy, over nine years. The heaviest previous lifetime intake on record is 2,000 pills.

The Guardian reports.

Club Drugs (Book)

Katherine Swarts, Club Drugs [History of Drugs series] (Farmington Hills, Michigan: Greenhaven Press, 2006).  Mostly on ecstasy, but also MDMA, LSD, kettamine, GHB, rohypnol.

2-year-old ingests ecstasy

A California couple was arrested Friday on suspicion of child endangerment after their toddler ingested Ecstasy they allegedly intended to use for an upcoming music festival, a deputy said. Read more.

Ecstasy smuggling between Canada-US a growing problem

U.S. officials are calling the Thursday seizure of 671,000 tablets of ecstasy at the Washington-British Columbia border part of an increasing new smuggling problem.

CTV News reports.

One in 50 drivers on ecstasy

SECRET police tests [in Victoria, Australia] have caught up to 300 motorists driving under the influence of ecstasy. The shock results have persuaded the Bracks Cabinet to include ecstasy in new roadside drug-drive test laws introduced in State Parliament yesterday. The new laws will come into force from July 1.

The Herald Sun reports.

Feeling low? Get high

Children who suffer anxiety and depression may be more likely to use ecstasy to relieve their symptoms in later life, according to a recent study.

The Guardian reports.

Disco rats last longer on ecstasy

A new study, published in BioMed Central's journal Neuroscience, has found that loud music prolongs the effects of taking ecstasy for up to five days.

Read more.

High in Ohio

Some Ohio University students and community members use drugs that they say expand their consciousness and perception of reality, though they acknowledge the potential for a "bad trip," not to mention the serious legal repercussions of getting caught with these drugs.

The Athens News reports.

10 year-old gives out ecstasy on school bus

All Headline News reports that police in Fort Wayne are still trying to figure out where a 10-year-old boy got more than 130 ecstasy pills. He thought they were candy and handed them out on a school bus.

Some of the students put the pills in their mouths, but spit them out because they tasted bad. Others reported stomach aches and one kid felt tingling in the arms. The driver then collected the bag of turquoise pills.

The student who passed out the ecstasy told police that he got the pills from the house where he goes to wait for the bus. Police estimate the value of the stash of more than 130 ecstasy tabs at about $3,000. Authorities have yet to file charges in the case.

'Turkey was in a very good position regarding drug use rates before ecstasy came along'

Statistics point to a sharp rise in the use of synthetic drugs among young Turks. Social and economic changes, drug prices and tourism are blamed for a trend that has also altered traditional smuggling patterns in the mainly Muslim country.

The increase in the use of ecstasy pills mirrors a sharp improvement in the economy, which has been clocking up annual growth of up to 10 percent, and the emergence of Istanbul, a city of around 12 million people, as a popular European party destination.

Read more.

Who's going to believe that there are drugs in prisons?

The amount of heroin seized in Northern Ireland's prisons dramatically increased last year, new Government figures revealed today. Drugs were seized from inmates on 226 occasions in jails during 2005 including cocaine, ecstasy and cannabis, according to statistics released by Prisons Minister Shaun Woodward to East Londonderry MP Gregory Campbell.

The Belfast Telegraph reports.

Ecstasy not good on the immune system either

It might enhance empathy, trigger a euphoric state and reduce inhibitions, but ecstasy can also put your health at serious risk, according to new research. Thomas Connor, of Trinity College Dublin, told the British Association science festival that laboratory studies had shown the drug, also known as MDMA, could suppress the immune system and, therefore, be a factor in increasing the risk of infection. The Guardian reports.

Cameron attacked on drugs stance

The BBC reports that Britain's home secretary has criticised Conservative leadership contender David Cameron's call to downgrade ecstasy from a class A drug. Charles Clarke said such a policy would be "irresponsible", as there was "more to learn" about the harm it could do. Mr Cameron has said a "realistic and sensible" approach is needed to combat the drugs problem. Tory members have started voting on whether Mr Cameron or rival David Davis should become the next party leader.

100,000 pills isn't sufficient enough evidence?

Police in northwest New Brunswick have made what they believe is the largest seizure of ecstasy ever in the province.

"Right now we believe we have about 100,000 pills in our possession," RCMP Staff Sgt. Gary Legresley said Wednesday. The seizure late Tuesday in Edmundston resulted from an ongoing investigation involving RCMP in New Brunswick and Quebec.

Legresley said seven men and one woman were arrested but were expected to be released Wednesday afternoon because of insufficient evidence.  Canoe reports.

As a general rule: never trust a pimp

A pimp and his accomplice have been arrested from Dwarka with 43 pills of the ‘party drug’ Ecstasy and 10 grams of cocaine, in a raid that senior officers say points to increasing evidence of links between drugs and sex rackets in the city. Delhi Newsline reports.

Drug abuse more common among men in the Czech Republic

Men were almost twice as likely as women to use illegal drugs in the past year, according to a public health survey in the Czech Republic. The gender gap was evident for every age group between 18 and 64 years old covered by the Health Information and Statistics Institute (UZIS) survey in September.

More than 10 percent of the 3 500 respondents said they had used illegal drugs - from marijuana to ecstasy to LSD - in the past year. IOL reports.

Shanghai aims drug fight at meth, ecstasy

Shanghai plans an anti-drug campaign focused on such newcomers as ecstasy, methamphetamines and ketamine. Authorities also will be leaning on discos and other entertainment venues that allegedly allow patrons to use drugs on their premise, the Shanghai Daily News reported.

'In addition to traditional drugs like heroine and marijuana, new drugs like ecstasy, methamphetamines and ketamin are becoming popular in the city,' said Zhou Weihang, director of the Shanghai Anti-Drug Office. M&C News (13 October 2005) reports.

'No Sir, I have no idea how that got there, Sir'...coke and ecstasy found in army barracks raid

A solider has been arrested after 40 bags of cocaine and 150 ecstasy pills were found at an army barracks [in Wales]. Military police allegedly discovered the drugs and some stolen goods in a car. Squaddies from the Green Howards regiment, which recently returned from a six-month tour of Afghanistan, are being quizzed after the raid. A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: "Obviously this is a serious allegation. Drug misuse is incompatible with life in the armed forces and will not be tolerated. The Mirror reports.

Side-effects include: a desire to trot instead of walk, a shiny coat, and a proud mane with an abundance of fine hair

The Guardian reports (6 September 2005) that 'Special K,' a horse pill, is taking over from ecstasy among clubbers in the UK. In veterinary circles, ketamine is used as a horse tranquilliser; on the battlefield, it has proved an effective anaesthetic. But in UK clubs and bars, the drug known as Special K has developed a mass following. According to new research, Special K, which has strong hallucinogenic qualities, is becoming as popular as ecstasy. Read more here.

Ecstasy and Other Designer Drugs (Book)

Katherine Swarts, Club Drugs [History of Drugs series] (San Diego: Greenhaven, forthcoming 2006).

Two sentenced to death for peddling ecstasy

Philstar.com reports (21 April 2005) that two women were sentenced to the death penalty by the Mandaluyong City regional trial court for selling ecstasy to agents of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) three years ago. Judge Amelia Dy of the Mandaluyong RTC Branch 213 sentenced Emmalyn de la Serna alias Inday, 30, and Reggie Medenceles, 31, to die by lethal injection after finding them guilty of pushing ecstasy tablets. This was the first ever court decision on a case involving the peddling of ecstasy.

Cheap cocaine floods Edinburgh

The Scotsman reports (31 March 2005) that cocaine use is rocketing in the capital because falling street prices mean the drug is now cheaper in Edinburgh than the rest of Scotland. Drug support workers and the city’s drugs tsar warned the price of the class A drug has fallen to around £5 a wrap, compared to close to £10 in other Scottish cities. They said the drug is now as readily available as ecstasy and is equally as popular among the capital’s clubbing crowds. The rising availability has come despite a growing number of seizures by Lothian and Borders Police. Find the full story here.

Tel Aviv court remands policeman suspected of dealing weapons and drugs

Haaretz - Israel News reports (4 April 2005) that a Yiftah District policeman, who was arrested in a sting operation, is facing charges of conspiring to trade in arms, drug use and breach of trust. The sting operation also led to the arrest of 23 suspected drug dealers in neighborhoods in central and southern Tel Aviv, with two undercover policeman operating primarily in Middle Eastern music clubs over a period of some seven months. During this period, police agents purchased more than 3,000 Ecstasy tablets, 1.6 kilograms of hashish and about 75 grams of cocaine from the suspects. The agents also bought hand guns, fragmentation grenades and explosives. Find the full story here.

16 students led away in handcuffs

The Cincinnati Enquirer reports (2 April 2005) that an undercover drug investigation has led to arrests at Milford High School. Milford High took a high-profile step in an attempt to curb a drug problem, paying an undercover private investigator to conduct a seven-month investigation that ended Friday with 16 students arrested on charges of selling drugs. The students - four of them 18 years old - were accused of selling marijuana, hallucinogenic mushrooms, the stimulant Ecstasy and the prescription anti-seizure medication Klonopin to the female investigator who posed as a student. The drug sales took place inside the school, on school grounds and at a business nearby. Find the full story here.

Designer drug cocktails on the menu

The Herald Sun reports (21 March 2005) that young Victorians are increasingly popping, injecting and smoking a dangerous cocktail mix of drugs. Speed, ice, cannabis, ecstasy, GHB, ketamine, cocaine, heroin and LSD are all on the menu for young people in a world of ever-increasing choice. And the list of ecstasy pills making their way on to the market is rising all the time. Blue DVDs, red and green Mitsubishis, orange butterflies, red/pink Russians and white VWs are just a handful of the designer drugs available in Melbourne recently. Find the full story here.

Fatal Combination of Ecstasy and Heroin

A letter to the editor of Psychosomatics 46/189 (April 2005), from J. Gerevich, M.D., Ph.D., Budapest, Hungary, can be found here. The letter addresses the chemical combination of amphetamines and heroin and cases of this combination leading to death.

Four held in Dublin drugs seizure

Onlineie.com reports (5 March 2005) that cocaine with an estimated street value of €200,000 was seized along with drugs equipment in Drimnagh. Two firearms were also seized in the raid. Earlier in a separate incident, another man was arrested in Ballyfermot following the seizure of heroin with a street value of €200,000, cannabis and ecstasy was also recovered. Meanwhile, in a separate haul in Athlone, Gardaí have recovered six kilos of base amphetamine, or speed.

Psychedelic medicine: Mind bending, health giving

For the New Scientist, John Hogan reports (26 February 2005) on the clinical trials of psycedelic drugs in the US, beginning in the 1960s, and the initiative by drug companies to have some psycedelics legally recognized as medicines. Find the full story here.

Ecstasy Trials for Combat Stress

David Adam reports for The Guardian (17 February 2005) that American soldiers traumatised by fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan are to be offered the drug ecstasy to help free them of flashbacks and recurring nightmares. Find the full story here.

Treating Agony with Ecstasy

For The Guardian, David Adam reports (17 February 2005) that dancefloor drugs dismissed as merely recreational may have medicinal benefits - helping patients to get the most out of therapy. Find the full story here.

Drug Use on the Decline in Singapore

For Today Online, Ansley Ng reports (16 February 2005) that the number of Malay drug abusers has been whittled down dramatically to about a tenth of their numbers in 2002 — thanks in part to concerted community efforts. The problem of drug abuse in Singapore appears to be under control. The number of drug abusers arrested last year was the lowest in 20 years. Find the full story here.

Opium Remains an Indulgence for the Rich and the Elderly in Vietnam

Entertainment News DesignerZ.com reports from Hanoi (11 February 2005) that in Vietnam's big cities, the opium addicts seem to be conservatives, aristocrats whose time has passed, still sticking to the ways that are "classical but noble and traditional."  Young Vietnamese urbanites today prefer ecstacy or heroin, amphetamines and other synthetic drugs.  Opium is mostly smoked in the affluent circles, by middle-aged or old men.  The full story can be found here.

Ecstacy: 'A Major Event in Drug History'

TranZFusion.net reports that ABC News dubbed the rise in ecstacy use in America in 2004 a once in fifty year phenomenon and claimed its explosive growth has been caused by "overwhelming positive word-of-mouth communication."  The full story can be found here.

Ecstacy Seized at Record Levels

For The Washington Times, Jerry Seper reports (7 February 2005) that the synthetic drug Ecstacy, which costs as little as 50 cents a tablet to produce in Europe, but can yield as much as $40 a pill in the U.S., is being seized at record levels from travelers, cargo and packages entering the United States. The full story can be found here.

Alexander Shulgin

For today's New York Times Magazine, Drake Bennett profiles Alexander Shulgin, the San Francisco-area creator of psychedelic drugs.

From the first of six pages:

There's a story he likes to tell about the past 100 years: ''At the beginning of the 20th century, there were only two psychedelic compounds known to Western science: cannabis and mescaline. A little over 50 years later -- with LSD, psilocybin, psilocin, TMA, several compounds based on DMT and various other isomers -- the number was up to almost 20. By 2000, there were well over 200. So you see, the growth is exponential.'' When I asked him whether that meant that by 2050 we'll be up to 2,000, he smiled and said, ''The way it's building up now, we may have well over that number.''

The point is clear enough: the continuing explosion in options for chemical mind-manifestation is as natural as the passage of time. But what Shulgin's narrative leaves out is the fact that most of this supposedly inexorable diversification took place in a lab in his backyard. For 40 years, working in plain sight of the law and publishing his results, Shulgin has been a one-man psychopharmacological research sector.

Full text here.