How pure are street drugs?
There is no proper quality control over illegal drugs It is often difficult to know whether a powder, pill, resin, herb or liquid is a particular drug. Even if you think it is a particular drug you may...
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Why do people die after taking ecstasy?
The reasons and some statistics Ecstasy-related deaths have always received a substantial level of media coverage, and proportionately much more than many other drugs. One study of drug-related deaths...
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Ecstasy
What is ecstasy? Brownies, dolphins, doves, E, eckies, Edward, fantasy, love doves, MDMA, MDMA powder, M and Ms, New Yorkers, sweeties, tulips, X, XTC, 3,4, methylenedioxymethamphetamine Ecstasy is an...
View ArticleAgonies and ecstasies: the continuing story
November 16th 2015 Today (16th) sees the 20th anniversary of the tragic death of Leah Betts. The family decision to make public a photo of Leah in intensive care, which then became the centrepiece of a...
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Druglink in 2015
In 2015 Druglink changed format to become a website. Below are the articles published before DrugScope closed in March 2015: Further down a stony road: reporting on the 2014 Street Drugs Trend Survey;...
View ArticleDruglink article 1989 – MDMA in perspective – The speed trip by Harry Shapiro
1988 was the summer of louts and love. The louts drank lager; fun and love came in tablets of MDMA – Ecstasy. Reality and fantasy mixed in a crescendo of press reports about MDMA and Acid house music....
View ArticleDruglink article 1991 –“Everything starts with an ‘E'” with Peanut Pete
An introduction to ecstasy use by young people in Britain “Everything starts with an ‘E'” (PDF)Read more →
View ArticleDruglink article 1991 – Abby, the ecstasy dealer by Nicholas Dorn, Karim...
Research involving interviewing drug traffickers and police was used to construct a rough typology of UK trafficking firms as a means of organising the research data. ‘Abby’ – a former ecstasy dealer –...
View ArticleDruglink article 1991 – Beyond opiates… and into the 90s by Mark Gilman
The Lifeline Project in Manchester identified a new group of potential clients among young people attending rave dance venues using a range of drugs including ecstasy, LSD and amphetamine. A cartoon...
View ArticleDruglink article 1992 – Agencies face wave of ecstasy problems
Increasing numbers of young people are contacting drug agencies worried about the effects and long term consequences of taking ecstasy. Agencies face wave of ecstasy problems (PDF)Read more →
View ArticleDruglink article 1992 – Responding to recreational drug use by Peter...
Outreach interventions developed to reach injectors are inappropriate in noisy nightclubs whose customers are there for fun, not counselling. Drug information workers in Mersey instead devised a...
View ArticleDruglink article 1992 – A researcher reports from the rave by Russell Newcombe
Many thousands of young people take LSD, ecstasy and amphetamine while attending rave dance events. Use is usually occasional and unproblematic but dangers arise from the uncertain composition and...
View ArticleDruglink article 1992 – Grant frozen after ministers see ecstasy leaflet
A government grant to Mersey Drug Training and Information Centre has been withheld following a tabloid press storm over the ecstasy information in the centre’s Chill Out leaflet Grant frozen after...
View ArticleDruglink article 1992 – Ecstasy in the brain by Joe Black, Michael Farrell...
Development of concern over adverse effects of MDMA has paralleled similar cycles of concern over LSD and other drugs, with increasing use being accompanied by evidence of negative effects. Reports of...
View ArticleDruglink article 1992 –‘Heatstroke’ cause of ecstasy deaths
Surprise evidence of liver damage after repeated use Heatstroke’ cause of ecstasy deaths (PDF)Read more →
View ArticleDruglink article 1993 – In defence of ecstasy by Nicholas Saunders
After personal experience of MDMA with lasting positive effects the author studied the scientific literature and concluded that evidence of brain damage was unreliable. Estimates of the death rate per...
View ArticleDruglink news 1996 – The effects of E on harm reduction
The news that Leah Betts died from drinking too much water and not ecstasy per se has worrying implications for the standard ecstasy harm reduction message to drink lots of water. The effects of E on...
View ArticleDruglink news 1996 – Safer dancing campaigns take off
Guidelines for clubs and raves on how to keep people safer. Safer dancing campaigns take off (PDF)Read more →
View ArticleDruglink obituary 1998 – Crash claims ecstasy icon
Nicholas Saunders, ecstasy author, counter-culture trend spotter and DIY entrepreneur, died on 3rd February when the car he was travelling crashed. Crash claims ecstasy icon (PDF)Read more →
View ArticleDruglink new item 1998 – How blue was my ecstasy?
Dr John Ramsey is in favour of a system based on a Dutch model for testing that could warn about rogue batches of drugs and improve our knowledge of what young people are taking. How blue was my...
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