Government warns of rise in Ecstasy consumption

THE Spanish Government is warning of the existence of a rise in the consumption of Ecstasy among the young population of Spain.
In a parliamentary reply, the Government confirmed that in the last few years treatments for addiction to this substance (described as a “designer drug”) has risen. The data from polls about drugs say that the average age for starting to consume Ecstasy is 15.3 and 15.5 years and it is consumed more by boys than girls, but only just. In any case, the Government adds that “it can't be said, at the moment, that there is a clear rise in the consumption of Ecstasy by young people, and that the general consumption of this drug continues to represent a small proportion of the rest of the mind altering drugs consumed”. The parliamentary reply gives the data collected by the State Poll about Use of Drugs in Secondary Education Centres in 2004, which says that 5 percent of the students between 14 and 18 years old had taken Ecstasy at some time, 2.6 percent during the last year and 1.5 percent during the last month. The consumption of this substance “is usually sporadic”, which explains the low percentage of young people, 0.1 percent, who have consumed the drug 20 or more times in the last month, 3.3 tablets being the maximum for one session. The Government thinks that there has been “a big fall in the prevalence of the consumption of this drug”.
The study also has data about Drug Abuse in Spain in 2003, which says that 4.6 percent of the Spanish population between 15 and 64 years old have taken Ecstasy sometime in their lives.