FACT, FICTION, AND FUNCTION: MYTHMAKING AND THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF ECSTASY USE

Abstract

Myths and folklore about drugs represent important aspects of user subcultures. This paper explores Ecstasy users' perceptions about drug folklore as it relates to the social relationships of drug user lifestyles. The data for the study were collected through in-depth interviews with 50 current or former Ecstasy users in Northern Ireland. The findings indicate that although some Ecstasy users perceive the folklore to be an accurate reflection of reality others report that social relations among users change with continued usage, occur within selected venues, or are influenced by greater cultural relations that characterize mainstream society. [Translations are provided in the International Abstracts Section of this issue.]

Notes

^*Some of these local self-report studies were conducted and funded in part by agencies that served drug users. Study limitations included nonrandom samples, inappropriate procedures for calculating drug use prevalence, and problems associated with survey administration (for a more detailed account, see [13]).

^*Additionally, all but one of the respondents were white (there are few ethnic minorities in Northern Ireland).

¹It is not known whether the interviewers' religious backgrounds affected the validity of the responses. For two of the interviewers, the religious background could be determined on the basis of their first names. A third interviewer was a “foreigner” whose religion was unlikely to be ascertained by respondents.

^*Of those respondents who had contacted theproject staff and requested interviews, only a few potential respondents (e.g., six or fewer) failed tokeep their appointment. We do not know of the number of E users who were told about the study but never contacted us.

^*We acknowledge that the term “heavy user” is value-laden and we generally object to its use. We use the term here only to compare the number of lifetime E episodes among respondents in this study with that found in other studies.

¹Additionally, 66% of the sample smoked 20 or more cigarettes daily, during the 6-month period before the interview.

^*footnotetextIn this context, the question means “What's going on?” or “What's happening?”

^*The flag referred to is the Union Jack which is flown in Loyalist areas during the period of orange marches that centers around July 12.

¹In this context, the statement, “this sort of craic,” means “this sort of thing.”

^*The bands to which the respondent refers are Loyalist marching bands.

¹Field researchers collected observational data in several clubs throughout Northern Ireland. These data are not reported here.

^*Measham et al. argue that the British media have fixated either on the small number of deaths that can be directly related to E, the mixing of unpleasant substances in the production process, or the environmental context in which E is taken.

^*Leah Betts was a young female who died after taking E and whose death raised considerable media interest in Britain. The cause of death, however, has been debated. Media reports have tended to attribute her death to the drug, itself whereas other reports have suggested that she died of dilutional hyponatremia (“build-up of water in the body”) and that hormonal factors also may have played a role (35, p. 4).