Club Drug Use in Germany

Abstract

In this paper the epidemiology of club drug use in Germany, including the use of 3,4-methylendioxy-N-methamphetamine (MDMA) known as ‘ecstasy’ and related substances such as speed, amphetamines, hallucinogens, and cannabis is described on the basis of five different surveys. Two of them are representative household surveys to monitor the licit and illicit drug use behavior of the German population. The third one is a longitudinal study aimed at exploring comorbidity and posited risk and protective factors in adolescents and young adults with specific emphasis on substance use-related disorders. Since ecstasy seemed to be associated with a new music culture of the ‘90s called “techno,” two studies investigating the relationship of using ecstasy and related substances in the techno party scene are additionally presented. The question of the clinical impact of using ecstasy and related substances is raised in terms of substance use-related and mental disorders associated with the use of ecstasy. Finally, the motivation for using and stopping the use of ecstasy is addressed. It is shown that ecstasy has reached the second place (after cannabis) in illegal drug preferences of adolescents and young adults in Germany. Evidence is found that ecstasy use as well as ecstasy use-related disorders such as “abuse” and “dependence” are of a transient, “youth-limited” nature.

Keywords:

• ecstasy
• techno
• techno party scene
• MDMA
• substance use-related disorders
• mental disorders

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Renate Soellner

Renate Soellner, Ph.D., is an assistant professor at the Freie Universität Berlin and head of the department of evaluation, quality assurance, and quality management in education and psychology. After finishing her studies in psychology in 1992, Dr. Soellner worked as a research assistant in applied research fields predominantly concerned with drugs and AIDS, such as “drug mortality,” “HIV and drug use,” and “determinants of different cannabis use patterns.” In her Ph.D. thesis she analyzed the construct validity of the dependence syndrome via DSM-IV for the substance of cannabis. Her major research interests are evaluation of prevention programs in the field of public health and social science research methods. She gives lectures in evaluation, statistics, methodology, and health psychology.