Legal+or+illegal+globally?

Legal or illegal globally?
Ecstasy is illegal in all countries in the world under a UN agreement, and even non -members of the UN like Switzerland tow the US 'war on drugs' line and have made it illegal. Moreover, Ecstasy is always in the same category as heroin although both Holland and Spain appointed expert committees to advise their governments, and they both said it should be moved to the lower category as cannabis[|(Ecstasy.org ,N.D)].

There is some variation when it comes to other drugs, such as 2CB which is sold by mail order from countries which have not yet outlawed it, and I am told that an administrative error has made MBDB legal in Germany at present (11/96). In Britain, the law has prohibited whole families of drugs even before they were invented and many more countries are following this policy instead of prohibiting drugs one by one as they appear. In the US, any new drug which has been designed to avoid the law is automatically prohibited [|(Ecstasy.org ,N.D)].


 * === **Content** === ||
 * Ecstasy background ||
 * Legal or illegal globally? ||
 * Addiction ||
 * Toxicity and risk of death ||
 * How the media reports on Ecstasy ||
 * Reference list ||
 * Reference list ||

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Prevalence of ecstasy use is thus particularly among younger age cohorts and it often correlates with the number of raves similar type of dance event taking place. Well in developed countries, all sectors of society are affected by ecstasy use, such use is still phenomenon of the middle and upper classes in developing countries. In 2009,UNODC estimates the globe annual prevalence of ecstasy use as between 0.2%- 0.6% of the population aged 15-24, corresponding to between 11 and 28 million people who had used ecstasy at least once in the previous year.=====

At the global level, most 47% of countries responding in 2010 perceived ecstasy use to be stable in their countries. In the Americas 83%and Europe 54%, the majority of countries reported stable trends for 2009. Similarly, in Africa , the region with few respondents on this question (reflecting low response rates as well as low spread if ecstasy use), the majority of countries 67%also reported stable tends. The only region where most 47%of countries reported decreasing trend of ecstasy use was Asia. There are indications that the stabilization or decline of ecstasy use has been linked to the reductions in the manufacture f ecstasy which in turnsappear to have a consequence progress made in the control of precursor chemicals [|(UNODC, 2011)].

2.1) Ecstasy users by region, subregion and Globally


America has the highest prevalence rate of 1.4% of ‘ecstasy’ use among the general population. Around 1.1 million people initiated their drug use with ‘ecstasy’ in the United States in 2009, signalling a significant increase over the previous year (894,000 people in 2008). Most (66.3%) of the ‘ecstasy’ users who had initiated in 2009 were aged 18 years or older, with an average age of among those using ‘ecstasy’ for the first time in 2009 Since the decline in prevalence of ‘ecstasy’ use in 2002 the trends remained stable between 2003 and 2008, but began to register an increase in 2009 [|(UNODC, 2011)].

2.2) Europe trends in Ecstasy use


‘Ecstasy’ use is reported to be stabilizing in Europe, but use patterns are becoming more polarized among club-goers and the general population The annual prevalence of ‘ecstasy’ use in Europe is estimated at 0.7% of the adult population. Between 3.7 and 4 million people aged 15-64 years used ‘ecstasy’ in the past year in Europe. The ‘ecstasy’ use prevalence rate is still higher in West and Central Europe (0.8%) than in East and South-East Europe (0.6%).

Most of the countries in Europe are now reporting stanal Sobre O Uso De Álcool, Tabaco E Outras Drogas Entre Universitarios Das 27 Capitais Brasileiras, Secretaria Nacional Politicas sobre Drogas, Brasilia 2010.bilizing trends of ‘ecstasy’ use. Updated or new estimates for ‘ecstasy’ use were available from some countries in Europe, including Belgium, Cyprus, Germany, Spain Sweden and the United Kingdom (England and Wales, and Scotland). Many of these countries have reported a decline in the annual prevalence in their current surveys compared to previous years. This is in line with reports of manufacturing difficulties in a number of European countries in recent years, and thus the use of various other substances than MDMA in ‘ecstasy’ tablets. The Czech Republic, Latvia, Slovakia and the United Kingdom remain countries with high ‘ecstasy’ use prevalence rates in the general population.

Like in other parts of the world, most of the ‘ecstasy’ users are young people aged 15-34. The EMCDDA in its annual report for 2010 mentions that practically all of the estimated 2.5 million ‘ecstasy’ users who had used ‘ecstasy’ in the past year were between 15 and 34 years old.

Targeted surveys in nightlife settings in European countries suggest that the prevalence and patterns of stimulants and ‘ecstasy’ use, together with alcohol, remains high. Some studies even suggest that drug use patterns among club-goers are becoming increasingly ‘polarized,’ that is, showing ever higher prevalence rates, in sharp contrast to the situation among the general population [|(UNODC, 2011)].

2.3) Global trends change of ecstasy
[|(UNODC, 2011)]