Ecstasy (III): Media Literacy
S
kewed articles can be used in the classroom to
provide “teachable moments” in seeking the facts
about MDMA (ecstasy). The media has taken to
the drug with fever—and in some cases fervor— not
seen since psychedelic drugs promised everything
from instant peace to powdered deity. “It's important
for students to critically analyze the media,” says
Carol Falkowski of the Hazelden Foundation. This
includes examining the form of the piece, its purpose,
construction, how it interprets reality and squares
with, avoids, or contradicts the facts.
A better self?
Take the January 21, 2001 New York Times Magazine
article by fiction writer Matthew Klam, “Experiencing
Ecstasy.” Klam takes “X” for two years in college and
then—“I got more excited to live, made a new plan
that felt freer—a plan that sent me in the right direction.”
(The plan is never revealed.) Klam often proclaims
things for which he has no authority: “Almost
universally, a better self emerges that first time you
take Ecstasy.” Ask students how many
users he has polled for this generalization.
(The article cites four.) Students can point
out where Klam contradicts himself. First
he says that ecstasy “doesn't disrupt your
basic sense of who you are,” then later it's “a potent
drug that changes you immediately.” He says it raises
body temperature “slightly,” then admits ecstasy can
lead to heat stroke.
In the end, the changes Klam points out as “life after
Ecstasy” are minor: eating brown rice, making a
friend of a monk, not throwing a tantrum after hitting
his funny bone, and reading the dictionary. Ask your
students if they need to risk liver damage, long-term
memory loss, strokes and severe depression, to eat
brown rice or read the dictionary. Klam never tells us
why he quit taking the drug 15 years ago, except “the
novelty wore off.” What he doesn't talk about are the
400 Americans, mostly youth, who died from club
drug ingestion—most of them, from ecstasy. They
didn't have a chance for the novelty to wear off.
‘Might’ do harm?
“The Lure of Ecstasy”(Time, June 4, 2000) asserts
“two dangers." First, that the pill is adulterated with
something worse. And second, “and more controversially,
MDMA itself might do harm.” But there's no
controversy here; there's no need to say “might.” The
science is clear (three NIDA human and monkey studies
show serious long-term memory impairment). The
cover article says it takes 14 ecstasy pills to kill you.
But people have died taking “e” alone in small doses.
One user an expert?
On April 15, 2001, The Washington Post published
“Pragmatic Dutch Tolerate Ecstasy Use.” It accepts at
face value that one “sweaty young
American” in Holland “knows all about the
potentially dangerous side effects of ‘e’.”
Who this omniscient individual is, we're
never told, but he has homemade remedies
for side effects downplayed as mild—for “sore gums”
from teeth-grinding, just chew gum; for “slight”
depression in the hangover, eat an orange. Marijuana
smoking shops are places where drug use risks are
“minimized.” Is taking marijuana at a legal shop any
less risky than taking it in a dark alley? You might
not get arrested, but your mind and body still suffer
the same consequences.
It's the additives?
“Dr. X” (Rolling Stone, April 26, 2001) is a foray into
the life of ecstasy enthusiast Rick Doblin, a sort of
latter day Timothy Leary (Doblin has a Harvard
doctorate), who admits Leary “inspired” him. Writer
Gary Greenberg downplays the risks—they're “not the
direct result of the drug's action,” but additives. But if
something is bad for you and you add to it something
else bad, removing the second substance doesn’t
make the first one good.
Balanced Treatments of ecstasy
- “Ecstacy Drug Trade Turns Violent,” USA Today,
May 16, 2001.
- “In the Mix (Ecstasy),” PBS, April 2001
(see also www.pbs.org/inthemix).
- “Cracking Down on Ecstasy,” U.S. News and
World Report, February 5, 2001.
- “Ecstasy Spreads,” CBS' Sixty Minutes, August 8,
2000. (See also www.cbsnews.com)
- “In New Drug Battles, Use of Ecstasy Among
Young Soars,” New York Times, August 2, 2000.
- “Party of Death,” (LA) Daily News, August 30, 1999.
To change recipient’s name or fax number or to order a catalog of substance abuse publications, call SAMHSA’s National
Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information (NCADI) at 1-800-729-6686, TDD 1-800-487-4889 (for the hearing impaired).
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Center for Substance Abuse Prevention
www.samhsa.gov
Prevention Alert is supported by the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention of the
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and may be copied without
permission with appropriate citation. For information about Prevention Alert, please contact
CSAP by phone 301-443-9938, or e-mail gorfalea@samhsa.gov
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