Experiments on monkeys, rats and mice have shown that high doses of Ecstasy cause irreversible brain damage in animals.

In 1998, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) studied a small group of habitual Ecstasy users who were no longer using the drug.

That study found these users had suffered damage to portions of the brain that regulate critical functions such as learning, sleep and emotion.

It is as if the brain switchboard was torn apart and then rewired backwards.

Ecstasy damages brain cells by causing the nerve branches and nerve endings to degenerate. These cells then regrow abnormally, failing to reconnect to some brain areas or connecting elsewhere to the wrong areas. It is as if the brain switchboard was torn apart, then rewired backwards.

The NIMH study indicates that recreational Ecstasy users may be risking permanent brain damage that could manifest itself in depression, anxiety, memory loss and other disorders.

Some More Scientific Information

NEARLY 100 STUDIES HAVE BEEN CONDUCTED ON ECSTASY. They show that:

• The absorption of even half a pill of Ecstasy can cause grave symptoms, as in the case of an 18-year-old girl who needed a liver transplant to save her life after taking the drug.
• Ecstasy is sometimes mixed with substances such as rat poison.
• Young people have died from dehydration, exhaustion and heart attack as a result of taking too much Ecstasy.
  
• Ecstasy can cause kidney, liver and brain damage, including long lasting lesions on brain tissue.
  
• Even a small amount of ecstasy can be toxic enough to poison the nervous system and cause irreparable damage.
  
• Ecstasy can modify DNA structure, causing genetic damage.
  

What other evidence should you need to know that Ecstasy is a harmful and dangerous drug?