Club Drug Abuse More Common in Europe Than America

Club drugs are the drugs that are commonly abused in underground teenage clubs called “raves.” Club drugs abuse has become a symbol of teenage fun and therefore is gaining more popularity with passing years. These drugs include MDMA, which is in a pure form, and Ecstasy which is basically MDMA adulterated with other harmful substances like cocaine.

Club Drugs Abuse

Club drugs abuse is becoming more common throughout the world. This is primarily because of the club drugs effect as they induce an intense feeling of euphoria and work as natural antidepressants. More club drugs abuse effects include a heightened sexual desire and disinhibition. As club drugs abuse effects include accidents, risky sexual behavior such as date rapes and unprotected sex. According to club drug abuse information, the action as natural antidepressants reinforces the use of club drugs along with other factors influencing their popularity among young age groups.

Europe and Club Drugs

Consider any European country for the comparison. In the Netherlands, for example, the statistics for Ecstasy prevalence were 2.3% I 1997, and in 2005 the figure raised to 4.3%. In the same area, on the same population the previous year prevalence in 2005 was 1.2%. The statistics further show that club drugs abuse is far more popular among students than the use cocaine, amphetamines and heroin. In 2000-2001, the lifetime prevalence of Ecstasy in Netherlands was 3.2%, implying that 3.2% of the population had used the drug at some point in their life. And at the same time, the last year prevalence of Ecstasy or MDMA in the Netherlands was 1.1%. Let’s now compare this to the MDMA use in the United States of America.

Club Drugs Use By the Numbers

Around nine million pills of Ecstasy were smuggled into the US in 2000 as intercepted by the US Customs Service. Now, here are the drastic statistics for Ecstasy in the US in the year 2000. According to club drugs abuse information in 2000 the previous year prevalence of Ecstasy use was 5.5%. This data is collected from 19 to 22 year old US citizens and not the entire population so the club drugs abuse information for both countries are not directly comparable. In 2000 the ecstasy use rose from 5% to 8.3% in a year only among the twelfth grader in the United States. In 2002 a survey of population of twelve years and above revealed that around 1.3% had used Ecstasy in the past year. Now, in the Netherlands the last year prevalence for the entire population was 1.1% and in the US for those above 11 years of age the same parameter shows a value of 1.3%. Considering the increasing rates of MDMA abuse by eighths graders, and younger populations, it is evident that a larger percentage of people use Ecstasy in the US than the Netherlands.

Interestingly, most pills for Ecstasy are produced in the Netherlands and Belgium. As Ecstasy is produced in Europe, common sense would say it is used at a larger scale in these countries but in reality this in not the case as you just saw in the given club drugs abuse information.