Ecstasy Brain Damage Research 'Flawed, Biased & Sponsored by The Feds'

Leading ecstasy experts have dismissed new US research linking E use to brain damage, with some calling the new work "the latest in a string of biased studies sponsored by the federal government," according to a report in this week's Washington Post.

"Much of the NIDA-promoted (federally funded) research record . . . suffers from serious flaws in methodological design, questionable manipulation of data, and misleading and deceptive reporting in the professional literature and to the media," said Charles Grob, a neuropsychiatrist from the University of California.

The new research involved injecting mice with several doses of MDMA and according to its author George Ricuarte indicated that using ecstasy even once could increase the risk of developing Parkinson's Disease. 40% of the mice died in the experiment prompting other scientists to question his conclusions.

"The dose that he (Ricuarte) gave killed 20 percent of the animals immediately," said Julie Holland, a psychiatrist from the New York University School of Medicine (Associated Press).

"Clearly these animals reacted to the drug differently than humans because not one out of five Ecstasy users drops dead."

British neurologist Adrian Williams also questioned the validity of the research, pointing out that there is no evidence of British ecstasy users turning up at clinics with symptoms of Parkinson's Disease, despite some having taken the drug regularly for 15 years.

"If the drug, used in large quantities, were responsible for the young-onset of Parkinson's disease we might have expected to see some early evidence of this," he told BBC online. (bbc.co.uk)

Tags

• ecstacy