Just One Percent of Parents See Their Teens At Risk to Ecstasy; Half Don't Know About Effects of the So-Called "Love Drug"

Despite Rapid Increase in Teen Ecstasy Use, Parent-Teen Perceptions Far Apart; New Advertisements Airing to Translate Awareness of the Drug into Knowledge & Action

New York, NY - While nearly 3 million teenagers in America have already tried the club drug Ecstasy, only one percent of parents believe their son or daughter is among them - and half of all parents are unclear about the effects of the so-called "love drug," according to a national survey released today by the Partnership for Drug-Free America(r) (PDFA).

"Thanks largely to the media, parents are now aware of Ecstasy," said Stephen J. Pasierb, president & CEO of the Partnership. "The job at hand is turning awareness into knowledge and action. If one out of every two parents does not know how Ecstasy affects users, millions of parents could be missing potentially life-saving warning signs."

Released today, the 2001-2002 Partnership Attitude Tracking Study (PATS) surveyed 1,219 parents across the country from December 2001 to January 2002. (Margin of error = + / - 2.8 percent. Data are nationally projectable.) This is the 14th installment of parents' data fielded for the PATS study since 1987. Topline findings include the following:

• Spreading the word: 92 percent of all parents have heard about Ecstasy. Parents of children in grades 7 to 12 are more likely to have heard about Ecstasy (93 percent) than parents of younger children in grades 4 to 6 (89 percent).
• Instilling the meaning: One of every two parents in America (49 percent) is unclear about Ecstasy's effects on users. Some 60 percent of all parents are unsure of what's in the drug.
• Not acknowledging the risk to their children: With 12 percent of teenagers in the country (2.8 million teens) reporting use of Ecstasy, the study released today shows that only one percent of parents believe their teen might have tried the drug. (Teen use of Ecstasy has jumped 71 percent since 1999 - and is now equal to or greater than adolescent consumption of cocaine, crack, heroin, LSD and methamphetamine.)
• Parent & teen perceptions far apart: Parents underestimate the availability of Ecstasy to teenagers, and overestimate the degree of risk teens associate with the drug. Almost three out of four parents (72 percent) believe their teen sees great risk in using Ecstasy once or twice. (Just 42 percent of teens agree.) Some 41 percent of parents think Ecstasy would be very or fairly difficult for their teen to get. (Just 26 percent of teens agree.)
• More reminders, more talks: Exposure to anti-drug ads correlate with frequent parent-child communication about drugs. Among parents who reported seeing or hearing an anti-drug message every day or more, 55 percent talk frequently. Among parents exposed to fewer messages, 44 percent talk frequently.
• Ecstasy-specific talks: Among the drugs parents talk "a lot" about with teenagers, parents were more likely to discuss inhalants (36 percent), cocaine/crack (48 percent); marijuana (60 percent) and alcohol (70 percent) than Ecstasy (29 percent).

Ecstasy -- chemically known as 3,4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine, or MDMA -- is a synthetic, psychoactive drug with amphetamine-like and hallucinogenic properties. Taken orally in pill form, Ecstasy can be extremely dangerous, especially in high doses. Ecstasy accelerates the release of serotonin in the brain, producing an intense high, often characterized by extreme feelings of love and acceptance - "the very emotions teens crave the most," Pasierb said. Ecstasy can cause dramatic increases in body temperature and can lead to muscle breakdown, as well as kidney and cardiovascular system failure, as reported in some fatalities. A growing body of research has found Ecstasy to be neurotoxic. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, MDMA can damage the neurons that use the chemical serotonin to communicate with other neurons.

As reported by the Partnership's research and other studies, Ecstasy use has increased significantly across the country. Partnership research indicates that older teens (16-17) are more likely to experiment with Ecstasy than are younger teens (13-15); most users are boys, but by a slim margin. Unlike methamphetamine and other drugs that are more regional in nature, Ecstasy is a drug that has been found in major cities and small towns throughout America, with noteworthy emergence in locations as diverse as Baltimore, Maryland and Billings, Montana. (See "Pulse Check" findings.) Emergency room mentions related to Ecstasy increased nearly 13-fold from 421 in 1995 to 5,542 in 2000.

Today, the Partnership announced the release of new television, radio and Internet messages as part of its on-going national education campaign on Ecstasy, launched earlier this year. New TV messages feature Anthony Tarantino and his mother, Cherrel, of Las Vegas, Nevada, talking about Anthony's abuse of Ecstasy. In another spot, twentysomething "Ashley" talks about her Ecstasy abuse. Spanish versions of these and earlier Ecstasy-specific ads from the Partnership are now being distributed around the country. The campaign's Web-based component - accessible at the Partnership's Web site (www.drugfreeamerica.org) - offers detailed accounts of the real stories told via the campaign's television, print and radio ads. The campaign's ads can also be viewed at PDFA's Web site.

The Partnership has created a new brochure about the dangers of Ecstasy, available in both English and Spanish, which is available on the Web at www.drugfreeamerica.org or by calling the toll-free number, 1-866-XTC-FACTS, managed by the National Clearinghouse on Alcohol & Drug Information.