Doctor to give evidence of drugs' harmful high

By Larry Schwartz
September 21, 2003

 A Frankston Hospital radiologist will be asked to appear before a Victorian parliamentary inquiry to detail his
evidence that increasing numbers of young people were being admitted to hospital with brain injuries caused by minimal
or one-off "party drug" use.

Silvan MP Carolyn Hirsh, who chairs the drugs and crime prevention committee that will report to the State Government
early next year, said she would ask Dr Chris O'Connell to attend public hearings next month to discuss concerns he
raised on ABC radio and at a conference in Brisbane of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists.

Ms Hirsh said the committee had found "scary" evidence of amphetamine-induced damage, including psychosis.

The discussion paper released by the committee last week cautions that amphetamines can cause collapsed veins, tetanus,
abscesses and damage to the heart, lungs, liver and brain, and some users have had strokes, heart failure, seizures or
have died.

Dr O'Donnell told The Sunday Age he had been at Frankston Hospital for three years but in the past year had seen an
increasing incidence of people with serious side effects from minimal or "one-off" use of amphetamines, including
unknown "cocktails" of substances in tablets mistaken for ecstasy, or MDMA (methylenedioxymethamphetamine).

He said a young woman who took just one tablet "had a massive hemorrhage of the brain and died as a result". Research
has so far revealed extensive risks associated with amphetamines, now injected by some users, but experts say the long-
term effects of ecstasy remain unclear.

Dr O'Donnell said magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans now enabled radiologists to detect effects, including
"bleeding into the brain or stroke or brain death".

He said his work at the hospital reflected the decline in availability of heroin and an increasing use of ecstasy and
amphetamines.

Dr O'Donnell said some of the damage was reversible if treated early but some patients had developed long-term
"neurological deficit" and there was concern that it might lead to permanent disabilities, even dementia.

After outlining his concerns on ABC Radio's AM, talkback calls on the issue flowed to 774 Melbourne morning host Jon
Faine. One caller, Melanie, from Burwood, said drug use was "close to my heart" after a violent relationship with a man
she had not realised was using amphetamines. "A lot of my friends over the years have been taking ecstasy . . . It's
unbelievably common and it breaks my heart because these people are so capable. But I've noticed over the years they've
just deteriorated."

The director of the Australian Drug Foundation's centre for youth drug studies, Geoff Munro, said there was a need for
further research and, warning against premature conclusions, cited news that US scientists who last year suggested
ecstasy could cause permanent brain damage and Parkinson's disease had retracted their research, revealing they had
used another drug.

The executive officer of the Victorian Alcohol and Drug Association, Carol Bennett, cited the latest Australian
Institute of Health and Welfare National Drug Household Survey findings that just over 6 per cent of Australians aged
14 and over had used "ecstasy/designer drugs", and almost one in five among those aged 20 to 29.

Ms Bennett said use of amphetamine (speed) or stimulants such as methamphetamine (ice), MDMA and ketamine was common.

LINKS

 Victoria Alcohol and Drug Association
http://www.vaada.org.au

Australian Drug Foundation
http://www.adf.org.au

Parliament of Victoria
http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au

SOURCE: The Age, Australia
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/09/20/1063625257781.html

* * *

----------------------------------------------------------------------
To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask]
In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn