Ecstasy: commodity or disease?

Journal of Psychoactive Drugs
Michael Agar, Heather Schacht Reisinger

Abstract

This article evaluates past work on heroin and crack cocaine epidemics by comparing it with the increase in Ecstasy use in the late 1990s. First of all, the authors make the case that there was, in fact, a dramatic increase in Ecstasy use in the late 1990s. Following that is a review of the rise and fall of several different Ecstasy scenes beginning in the 1960s. The most recent rise, in the late 1990s, requires a broadening of the theory of epidemics to include longer historical waves of change, so we do that by reviewing work on post World War II trends in social disconnection and consumerism. We then shift to a marketing rather than a public health framework and look at the nature of the Ecstasy "product," both its good and bad characteristics. Finally, we describe the narrative mechanism, developed in our earlier work, that plausibly explains why use rose when it did, given the needs of the market. The article concludes by discussing the changes this case motivates for our theory, particularly in light of globalized and normalized drug use that at the moment appears to be the current context for illicit drug use.

References

Feb 26, 2000·Lancet·D F Musto
Mar 8, 2000·American Journal of Ophthalmology·J H SmithJ M O'Brien
Apr 6, 2001·The Western Journal of Medicine·B Goodman
Oct 12, 2001·Nature·C B Vining
Nov 23, 2001·Journal of Psychoactive Drugs·M Agar, H S Reisinger
Mar 1, 2002·The Journal of Adolescent Health : Official Publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine·Patrick B Johnson, Linda Richter
Jul 20, 2002·Medical Anthropology·Michael Agar, Heather Schacht Reisinger

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Citations

Nov 9, 2005·Journal of Ethnicity in Substance Abuse·Julie M EisermanJean J Schensul
Dec 15, 2009·The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse·Jan GryczysnkiJerome Jaffe
Dec 19, 2014·The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry·Grant E SaraWayne D Hall

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