Warning: Spring Break Trips Expose Students to Club Drug Dangers

Spring Break long ago ceased being about beach parties in Lauderdale. Now it’s about booze, packaged drinking tours to southern cities or exotic foreign ports, and club drugs, the most prevalent club drug being Ecstasy.

Ecstasy is an illegal stimulant and psychedelic drug that is commonly used in a dance club or rave (all-night dance party) environment. Abusers report that it gives them increased energy to party for hours or days, and helps them feel more “in touch” with others, experience a reduced defensiveness, an increased sense of well-being and an enhanced perception of lights and colors. Young women at raves are particularly vulnerable to sexual assault, as the drug often makes them feel intimate and loving with someone they just met…who just provided their dose of Ecstasy. The price for these supposed enhancements can be very high, however.

Ecstacy’s technical name is 3,4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine, MDMA for short. MDMA is addictive for many people; 60% of people abusing MDMA report withdrawal symptoms such as fatigue, loss of appetite, depressed feelings and trouble concentrating. Use results in increased body temperature, increased heart rate and blood pressure, among other effects. On rare but unpredictable occasions, the body temperature can go so high that the liver, kidney and cardiovascular systems fail, which results in death.

While the focus, by and large, is on alcohol consumption during Spring Break, signs of Ecstasy and other drugs’ involvement are easy to find: The National Drug Intelligence Center reports that availability of Ecstasy increases significantly in Spring Break locations Panama City and Daytona Beach; the University of Texas noted an increase in the number of teens referred for treatment for Ecstasy abuse after Spring Break in 2004; USA Today reported on availability of Ecstasy and other drugs in their 2003 story of overseas destinations.

Spring Breaks are now about all-night drinking, dancing and drug parties in Florida, Texas, Mexico, the Caribbean and similar locations. Resorts attracting Spring Breakers construct vast clubs holding thousands of patrons, with as many as twenty bars to keep their glasses filled. This is the environment in which Ecstasy use abounds.

“Ecstasy use is not restricted to Spring Breaks, it’s readily available in cities across the country,” stated Ryan Thorpe, Director of Admissions at Narconon Arrowhead, one of the country’s leading drug and alcohol rehabilitation centers located in Canadian, Oklahoma. “In most areas, its popularity is increasing. Use has expanded out of the club scene and into college campuses, private parties, residences and even malls.”

Nationally, the DEA just announced that seizures of Ecstasy increased from 1.92 million units in 2004 to nearly 5.5 million units in 2005, and they expect availability to increase again in 2007.

“A person who just wanted to have a good time can suddenly find themselves addicted to Ecstasy and suffering from confusion, depression, sleep problems and drug cravings,” stated Narconon Arrowhead’s Thorpe. “If withdrawal symptoms make it hard to quit, that’s when an effective and drug-free rehabilitation program becomes essential.

“It’s most commonly our young people who abuse Ecstasy,” he added. “These people are our future leaders. They should be finishing their educations and starting families, not developing chemical dependencies. We specialize in withdrawing people safely from drugs, in removing the drug residuals that cause cravings, and in building the life skills that help people stay safe from drug abuse and addiction in the future.”

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