Ecstasy

Commodity or Disease

Bibliographic Data

ID14676227
AuthorsMichael Agar (Friends School of Baltimore), Heather Schacht Reisinger (0000-0002-5348-063X, Friends Research Institute)
Year2004
Volume36
Issue2
Pages253-264
Publication date2004-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Psychoactive Drugs (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0279-1072 • E-ISSN: 2159-9777
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/02791072.2004.10399736
PMID15369207
OpenAlexW2004155743
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited17

This article evaluates past work on heroin and crack cocaine epidemics by comparing it with the increase in Ecstasy use in the late 1990s. First of all, the authors make the case that there was, in fact, a dramatic increase in Ecstasy use in the late 1990s. Following that is a review of the rise and fall of several different Ecstasy scenes beginning in the 1960s. The most recent rise, in the late 1990s, requires a broadening of the theory of epidemics to include longer historical waves of change, so we do that by reviewing work on post World War II trends in social disconnection and consumerism. We then shift to a marketing rather than a public health framework and look at the nature of the Ecstasy "product," both its good and bad characteristics. Finally, we describe the narrative mechanism, developed in our earlier work, that plausibly explains why use rose when it did, given the needs of the market. The article concludes by discussing the changes this case motivates for our theory, particularly in light of globalized and normalized drug use that at the moment appears to be the current context for illicit drug use

Commodity · Disease · Economics · Ecstasy · Market economy · Psychiatry · Alcohol Consumption and Health Effects · Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research · Forensic Toxicology and Drug Analysis · Medicine · Psychology · Internal Medicine