‘The worst experiences I’ve had were more to do with taking more than one pill in a night’
The tragic death of drama student Ana Hick, who is reported to have taken ecstasy before collapsing outside a Dublin nightclub on Saturday night, has drawn attention to the dangers of drug use among Irish youth.
While cannabis remains the drug of choice for most young adult users, ecstasy and its toxic varieties are now just as easily available at parties and festivals and on college campuses.
Ecstasy - a chemical known as MDMA, or 3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine - costs as little as €6 to €10 per tablet and is often bought by one person for a group of friends before they go out, according to Thierry Mulliez, an addiction counsellor with Addiction Support and Counselling Galway.
“From what I hear from my young clients, it is often possible to purchase ecstasy in night clubs, though most prefer to have their pills ‘sorted’ before they go out,” he said.
A third of Mr Mulliez’s clients are under the age of 25 and half are students. “Ecstasy is certainly taken by most of my under-25 clients, however [it] is often consumed alongside alcohol and cannabis by students,” he said.
Source: The Irish Times, 20/05/15
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