Introduction

Ecstasy is a drug that is reportedly being widely used by young adults throughout the United States and Europe. Ecstasy, or Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), is similar to the stimulant amphetamine and the hallucinogen mescaline and produces both stimulant and psychedelic effects. In the United States, this drug has been associated with a predominantly white middle class population. This study focuses on the use of ecstasy among Mexican Americans in a large southwestern city. This population is unique in that it consists of Mexican American users of ecstasy, half of which consists of gays, lesbians, or bisexuals, a group not well studied in the literature.

The use of ecstasy among adolescents and young adults has raised major concerns among public health officials. Some research has shown that this drug has long-lasting effects on the brain and has other health consequences (Zickler, 2000). MDMA is identified as one of the "club drugs" that include GHB, Rohypnol, Ketamine, and Methamphetamine, and LSD. Its major reported usage has been at all-night dance parties and raves. However, there have been few empirical studies that examine actual use patterns of ecstasy, and its relationship to sexuality and high-risk behavior.

Methods

This study is based on data collected from fieldwork and qualitative interviews with Mexican American self-reported ecstasy users. Initial fieldwork consisted of visiting dance clubs, gay bars, raves, and other venues where there was reportedly MDMA use. These observations were conducted both by fieldworkers and one of the principal investigators of this study. A snowball sample of respondents was acquired through initial contact with an MDMA dealer who provided access to this population. Over a period of four months, 25 interviews were conducted in various locations in the field.

Description of Population

Table 1 provides the general characteristics of the 25 respondents interviewed in this study.

Table 1: Frequency list for characteristics of ecstasy users

Demography

Drug Characteristics

Sexual Behaviours

Table 1 indicates that the entire sample consisted of Mexican Americans and an almost equal number of males and females that ranged in age.

From 16-34. This table also presents the current drug use of this population. As expected, all of the respondents were current ecstasy users. The second drug most frequently used was cocaine (10 respondents), followed by marijuana and LSD, which 8 respondents used. Over half of the population were polydrug users, that is, used one other drug along with ecstasy. Interestingly, there was a disproportionately high use of heroin in this population (16%).

This table shows that most of the male population is gay or bisexual, 9 out of 14 of the total male population. On the other hand, only 2 out of 11 females are gay or bisexual.

Other interview data show that frequency of ecstasy use varied from every other night to a few times a month. Others use the drug only on the weekends or every few months. Even with continual use, respondents did not consider themselves addicted. They report that they just enjoyed the drug, wanted to continue use, and could stop when they wanted. Many are still active users and have no plans to quit using. A few seemed to think they would quit when they finished school and found jobs, but have no current plans to stop ecstasy use.

The table indicates that a majority of the sample, 14 of 25, was involved in risky sex while using Ecstacy ("X").

Many of the users reported that, since "X" only lasts 4 to 5 hours, it brought them the feeling they wanted, and yet they were still able to control themselves unlike with other drugs such as LSD which has a longer duration. They also appreciated that using "X" took them away from normal everyday problems.

The majority of drug use was at raves, either in San Antonio, or at the nearby cities of Austin or Houston. It enabled the users to obtain pleasure and be around others who are experiencing the same high. In this situation, they are able to become more confident than usual, and more exposed, which can lead to a dangerous situation. These situations include taking bad ecstasy (laced with heroin or other adulterants), having unsafe sex (see below), and getting in trouble with police or parents.

A major finding, discussed below, is the function of ecstasy in the development of sexuality in adolescent and young adult users. Ecstasy use was associated with first homosexual experience, sexual identity, and sexual enhancement among both males and females.

Ecstasy and Sexual Enhancement

Most respondents see the sexual enhancement of ecstasy as a benefit, not a risk. One stated that his fiancée:

…asked if I had ever done it before. We decided to get some and we had the best sex of our lives that night. Ever since then we get some "X" about once every two month or so.

Another states:

I felt totally uninhibited and free to do whatever. Then I found out how good sex is on it. I have done so many outrageous things sexually on "X" that I can't believe it.

While most prefer sex while on "X", they are not dependent on it as a sex aid:

I like the feeling of "X"; it is mellower than a lot of the drugs I have tried. Don’t get me wrong I will have sex every time I do it, but I am not dependent on it to get off.

Another respondent states:

It is too expensive to do it all the time, but I like to do it at any chance that I get. I do not depend on it, but it is almost a completely different experience when you are on "X".

Ecstasy Use and First Homosexual Experience

One of the major findings of this study is that ecstasy use was associated with the first homosexual experience of many of the sample. Further, the use of "X" is reported to enhance the user's sexual drive. Most of the users had their first sexual encounter with someone of the same sex while on "X", which then reoriented their sexual preferences to bisexual or homosexual. Of the 25 people interviewed, almost half considered themselves either homosexual or bisexual.

The respondents note that "X" was an important facilitator for initial homosexual sex. One comments on how the scene facilitated his first homosexual experience:

I think that the first experience with any drug will determine if you do it again. I had a great time the first time. I had just turned 18 and we went to a dance club, and my friends all got some "X". I think the thing I like most about it was the total loss of inhibitions, but I still felt like I was in control of myself. The first time I tried it I wanted to do everything; that was also the first time I had a homosexual experience.... I had thought about it, but the "X" just gave me the courage to do it. The scene does have a lot of homo and bisexuals, but I didn't feel pressured into it.... I think the scene just provided me with the chance to meet people who were like me.

Two others, who consider themselves bisexuals, also had their first gay experience after the first time they tried "X" at a rave. The first states:

I was 16. I started going to raves... One guy was a dealer and he gave me a "sample" for free. I liked it a lot; it was the best feeling I ever had. It totally took over my sex drive, and that is when I started having sex with both men and women...I am not sure if I would be bisexual if I had never done "X". It wasn't really something that I planned; it just kind of happened and I liked it. I do not think I would have had the opportunity if I hadn't gone to the raves, because I never knew anyone like that before I went. I really only have sex with men once in a while, and when I do I am always on "X".

Another, commenting about the first time he tried "X":

I was 17 and went with some friends to an underground rave... we all decided to try it. I had a great time! It made me feel like I was good to party all night, and that's what we did. We met these people who looked like rave regulars, they took us to an after hours party, and they had all kinds of drugs. We stayed up the whole day doing more "X", coke, and some people were doing heroin. Then the whole party turned into this big orgy. That is when I had my first bisexual experience.

Two females note that it opened them to lesbian experiences. The first reported:

...I just started doing it a lot more often. I would say that it made me closer to my roommate, and this was when I had my first sexual experience with her.... We were X'ing at the time, but I thought that as we got closer that I was falling in love with her. The drug just gave me the confidence to make this kind of move.

For another, it was her first sexual experience:

I had just moved into the apartments on campus (UTSA) and I was pretty shy, the complete opposite of my roommates. About two weeks after school started, I came home to a party in my apartment. Another roommate asked me if I wanted to try "X". She said that she got it free for giving this guy a blow job. All four of us took it. I felt really good and didn't realize how much beer I drank, because of the "X". After everyone left we all stayed up and talked. One thing led to another and I had my first sexual experience ever, not to mention with a girl.

Invincibility, High Risk Sexual Behavior and Non-Consensual Sex

Another major finding is that high-risk sexual behavior and non-consensual sex while using ecstasy was a frequent practice. For example, as noted above, 14 out of 25 respondents were involved in risky sex while using "X." One informant had his first "X" the week after his 18th birthday:

...I went and had the best time of my life. I loved the feeling on "X", and I love being in this club. I had come out the closet about half way into my senior year, and this was my first gay club. It is not actually a gay club, but there are more gay people than straight there. Later that night I took another hit with this transvestite I met there and had sex, and that was it I knew that I wanted to do this every chance I got.

One woman, who was taking "X" about twice a week, relates her experience of being raped and contracting AIDS while having unprotected sex:

I went out with this guy I had met a week before at a rave...We were going to a club...and he had some "X". Things were going good, until he started touching me constantly. I didn't really mind at first, but then when I started coming down it started bothering me. I asked him to take me home and he said that he had to stop by his house on the way. When we got to his house he grabbed me and took me into his room and raped me. I found out about a week later that he has AIDS. So I went and got checked about six months later and the test came back positive... by telling you this somehow it will help someone from making the mistake I made. I blame myself. I was out of control all I could think about was getting "X" and doing anything to get it. I did not plan on being raped, but if I had never started doing it, or at least been able to control myself it would not have happened.

Most of the respondents had unprotected sex because they were focused on the sensual experience of ecstasy itself, and not the possible consequences of their behavior. Strong sexual feelings coupled with the feeling of being immortal resulted in unsafe sexual practices. We want to stress that, aside from the frequently reported strong sexual urges experienced while using "X", the users reported that it made them feel almost immortal. According to one user: "If I wanted to feel like wonder woman I could just get in the right mind set and I would be wonder woman." Another gang member said, "I liked it, I would feel like nothing was going to hurt me. I thought I could get shot and wouldn't feel it." This feeling of invincibility is an important factor leading to unsafe sexual practices.

Polydrug Use and Ecstasy

This sample includes male and female gang members, whose use of ecstasy is different from the standard literature. We find frequent polydrug use. One 16 year old male gang member uses "X" to have sex with girls:

Last year I was rollin' with my homeboy and his O.G. (older gang member) and we wanted to pick up some girlies, so we went to this party, and everyone was all messed up. So O.G. hooked us up with some pill and said it was "X"...It was cash (that means good). I had been doing a lot of coke and this stuff was much more kicked back. Then I knew how it made the girls feel, and that's what I really liked about it. They would do about anything you wanted...If you had some "X", you knew that you would get your jimmy waxed...I do it about twice a month, but I always have some, in case the girls are looking for it. I like it, but it is not strong enough for me. If I am going to spend that kind of cash, I want to be going out of my head. Usually I just take some acid, and I will be out of it.

For him it is worth paying $25 for a sexual opportunity:

Yeah, the way I see it is that you would spend that much on an eight ball, or some weed, and "X" is sure fire.

The Use of Ecstasy as a Technique to Avoid or Lessen Addiction to Hard Drugs

We have found a few instances in which our respondents calculate that ecstasy is a way to avoid or lessen heroin or other drug addiction. The 16-year-old gang member strategizes:

My homeboys, they just get all messed up on coke and crack, but that shit is too hard. It is too easy to get addicted to it.

He prefers "X" or LSD to coke and other hard drugs.

An 18-year-old heterosexual female notes this rationale for using ecstasy:

When I was sixteen I started snorting heroin, I got hooked on that shit fast! It was all that I wanted to do all the time. All of my money went getting more, and when my money ran out, I would start sleeping with the dealers, or anyone who had some. After a while I was shooting all the time too. I was like that for about five months, then I got arrested one night. They sent me to a rehab place, I broke out twice, and that's when they sent me to jail. I had no choice but to come clean. I was in there for eight months. When I got out I decided that I would never do that again. So then I realized that a lot of the bad "X" has some heroin in it. So it was better for me to try and find that kind of "X", rather than the pure stuff. When I buy "X", I go to the raves and try to find someone with "X" with heroin in it and trade them hits. It gives me just that little fix that I want sometimes. I have not done heroin in a year and a half now, and I am glad. It is good to have a little control over my life now.

Bad ecstasy is used, then, as a strategy for managing a previous heroin addiction.

Conclusion

We conclude that, across multiple settings and subgroups, ecstasy is associated with sexual experimentation and new sexual orientation as well as with high-risk sexual behavior and non-consensual sex. In this sample, it is also associated with polydrug use, and is sometimes used as a strategy of substitution and management of other hard drugs.

References

Zickler P (2000) NIDA Launches Initiative to Combat Club Drugs. NIDA Notes 14(6).

This research was supported in part by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

R24 DA 07234-06.