Rave-Going Teens Seven Times More Likely to Use Ecstasy; Attitudes About Ecstasy Changing, but Researchers Warn “No Time to Celebrate”

NEW YORK, Feb. 11th – The number of teenagers using Ecstasy in America is finally leveling off, but the majority of adolescents – 13 million kids – don’t see great risk in trying the so-called “love drug,” according to a national survey released today by the Partnership for a Drug-Free America® (PDFA).

“Over the last few years, as overall teen drug use stabilized, Ecstasy was the one disturbing exception,” said Steve Pasierb, president and CEO of the Partnership. “Our latest reading of the Ecstasy market offers a more encouraging picture, but does not – and should not – suggest that we have turned the corner on this drug. We have not – not yet.”

Released today, the 2002 Partnership Attitude Tracking Study (PATS) surveyed 7,084 teens across the country (margin of error = +/- 1.5 percent). The nationally projectable study found that after increasing 71 percent between 1999 and 2001, trial use of Ecstasy by teens held steady in 2002. Overall, the study found:

• One out of every nine teenagers in America (11 percent, or 2.6 million teens) has tried Ecstasy at least once in their lives, statistically stable when compared to 2001 (12 percent);
• Nine percent (2.1 million teens) have used Ecstasy in the past year, statistically stable when compared to 2001 (10 percent),
• Five percent (1.2 million) have used Ecstasy in the past month, unchanged when compared to 2001 (five percent),
• Thirty-five percent of teens who have attended “raves” (1.6 million out of 4.5 million) have tried Ecstasy; just five percent of all other teens have tried the drug.

With new data taken into consideration, teen experimentation with the drug Ecstasy remains equal to or greater than adolescent consumption of cocaine, crack, heroin, LSD and methamphetamine. Even so, the data offer a potentially promising outlook for the future in changing teen attitudes about the drug, including the following: 

• Three out of four teens – 76 percent, or 17.9 million – now agree there’s great risk in using Ecstasy regularly, up from 72 percent in 2001; 45 percent (10.6 million) say they see great risk in trying Ecstasy once or twice, up from 42 percent in 2001;
• Three out of four teens – 77 percent, or 18.2 million – now agree there’s great risk of getting hooked on Ecstasy, up from 73 percent in 2001;
• And nearly three out of four teens – 70 percent, or 16.5 million – now agree there’s great risk of developing memory problems as the result of using Ecstasy, up from 66 percent in 2001.

“Attitudes change slowly, but when they do, they tend to gain momentum,” Pasierb said. “More teens see great risk in regular use of Ecstasy; more see great risk in experimenting. The latter category, however, concerns us. While the numbers are moving in the right direction, some 13 million kids remain unconvinced that trying Ecstasy could have real consequences. That’s something we simply must change.”

Chemically known as 3-4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine, or MDMA, Ecstasy is a synthetic, psychoactive drug with amphetamine-like and hallucinogenic properties. Taken orally in pill form, this Schedule I drug can be extremely dangerous, especially in high doses. The drug produces an intense and pleasurable high, while putting users at risk of dramatic increases in body temperature, muscle breakdown, and kidney and cardiovascular system failure, as reported in some fatalities. Since 1994, emergency room episodes involving Ecstasy increased from 253 to 5,542 in 2001.²

The Partnership launched the first and only national education campaign targeting Ecstasy exactly one year ago – on February 11, 2002. The multi-media campaign has been distributed to national media outlets and more than 250 local media markets throughout the country. “This campaign will remain in active distribution until a significant decline in Ecstasy use is sustained,” Pasierb said. Survey data released today found the number of teens who said anti-drug ads gave them new information or taught them things they didn’t know about drugs increased from 36 percent in 2001 to 43 percent in 2002. The research also shows consistently stronger anti-drug attitudes among teenagers exposed to more of the advertising.

Overall Survey Findings

Overall, the survey found drug use down and holding since 1997. In 2002, 48 percent of teens (11.1 million) reported trying an illicit drug at some time in their lives, down from 53 percent in 1997 and stable compared to 2001 (48 percent).

Marijuana remains the most widely used illicit drug, with four out of 10 teens (40 percent, or 9.4 million) reporting experimentation at some point. Three out of 10 teens (32 percent, or 7.6 million) say they’ve used marijuana in the past year, and one in five (20 percent, or 4.7 million) say they’ve used the drug in the past month. Each measure is down significantly since 1997 (44 percent, 36 percent and 24 percent, respectively) and stable compared to 2001 (41 percent, 32 percent and 21 percent, respectively).

Several measures of the marijuana-related attitudes among teens improved in 2002. Compared to 2001, significantly more teens agree marijuana users face great risk of: Losing the respect of family and friends (63 percent, or 14.9 million, up from 58 percent); letting other people down (49 percent, or 11.6 million, up from 45 percent); messing up their lives (67 percent, or 15.8 million, up from 63 percent). Overall teen attitudes toward marijuana remained stable compared to 2001, with most significantly improved since 1997.

LSD use declined (statistically significant change) in 2002, with eight percent of teens (1.9 million) reporting lifetime trial of the drug, down from 10 percent in 2001.

Inhalant use by teens has dropped (statistically significant change) since the 1995 launch of a Partnership campaign targeting this form of substance abuse. In 2002, 19 percent of teens (4.5 million) reported trial use of inhalants, 10 percent (2.4 million) said they had abused inhalants in the past year and six percent (1.4 million) said they had abused inhalants in the past month, down from 23 percent, 16 percent and eight percent, respectively, in 1995.

Alcohol use by teens has declined (statistically significant change), with 53 percent of teens (12.5 million) now reporting past year use of alcohol compared to 63 percent in 1997. Past month use also is down significantly (36 percent, or 8.5 million teens, in 2002 compared to 47 percent in 1997).

Cigarette use has dropped (statistically significant change) since 1998, with 28 percent of teens (6.6 million) now reporting past month use of cigarettes, compared to 42 percent in 1998.

Teen use of most other illicit drugs – including cocaine/crack, heroin and methamphetamine – remained stable in 2002, according to PATS. For the first time, the Partnership’s study asked respondents about prescription drug abuse. Some 20 percent of teens (4.7 million) said they had used prescription painkillers – such as OxyContin, Vicodin or Percodan – without a doctor’s prescription, and nine percent of teens (2.1 million) said they had used Ritalin or Adderall without a prescription.

(The Partnership Attitude Tracking Study and additional information on Ecstasy are available on-line at www.drugfreeamerica.org. PDFA encourages parents to call 1-866-XTC-FACTS for a free informational brochure on the risks of Ecstasy.)

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¹Conducted by RoperASW for PDFA. Survey of teens ages 12 to 18, in grades 7 through 12.
²Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Office of Applied Studies, Emergency Department Trends from the Drug Abuse Warning Network.
³Net marijuana, crack/cocaine, LSD, Ecstasy, heroin, inhalants, methamphetamine use, PATS data.
⁴On December 16, 2002, the University of Michigan’s Monitoring the Future study reported: “The turnaround in inhalant use and beliefs about its harmfulness corresponds exactly with the start of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America’s anti-inhalant ad campaign, so we are inclined to credit much of the improvement in inhalant use to that intervention.”