The Guardian has an interesting story today about research into the effects of very high ecstasy use.
Perhaps not surprisingly, given a guy to study who has taken over 40,000 pills in his lifetime, they find that he may have suffered some permanent damage to his ability to concentrate and to his memory. Perhaps the more surprising thing is that he hasn’t suffered something more severe–this certainly adds credence to the conventional “keep hydrated and you’ll be fine” wisdom as regards occasional E use.
However, when I read this:
The man, known as Mr A in the report in the scientific journal Psychosomatics, started using ecstasy at 21. For the first two years his use was an average of five pills per weekend. Gradually this escalated until he was taking around three and a half pills a day. At the peak, the man was taking an estimated 25 pills every day for four years.
…the questions that pop into my mind are all financial. I mean, what does E cost these days? Wouldn’t 25 pills a day be pretty expensive, especially over 4 continuous years? And, we’re talking about a guy who is 23 at the start of this 4 years period, so it’s not like he’s bringing down tall dollars at his job.
Where did he get the money?
Wikipedia tells us that:
In Britain, a usual price is around £2 for a pill (although media reports in September 2005 show the price dropping as low as 50p in many parts of the country), the standard price in a nightclub is three pills for £10
So, at the “club price”, 25 pills would be around £83. At the low media price it would be £12.5. Still, even at that rate we’re talking £88 a week. Now, I know lots of people who could easily spend that down the pub, so maybe it’s not so surprising.
We also read that Mr. A “was also a heavy cannabis user”, and I know that you don’t get weed for pennies a pound. And I bet he also spent some time “down the pub”.
So, where did he come up with his £400 a month for pills, while also keeping up his heavy weed habit, and presumably maintaining at least a survival lifestyle?
The scenario that makes the most sense to me is “child of privilege”, which reinforces all my stereotypes about “rich kids”. (It also makes me really angry with his parents–even when your kid is in his 20s, and presumably not living with you, how do you not notice a 40,000 pill ecstasy habit?)
Another scenario, of course, would be the dealer who was eating the profits. There would be an object lesson there for you in why that’s a bad idea. I guess this might actually be most likely, since if you’re buying 25 pills a day you’re probably pretty tight with your supplier already…
There is another scenario. Maybe he was making his own. The recipe is pretty simple and easily available.
