Writing in The Psychologist magazine, the two experts say that existing research into ecstasy's long term effects is flawed.

Research into the Class A drug has been biased in the belief that taking ecstasy is necessarily harmful and people may imagine they are suffering long-term effects of using it, say psychologists Dr John Cole and Harry Sumnall.

But teenagers suffer many new psychological problems which are not necessarily attributable to ecstasy and they may be taking other drugs as well.

Dr Cole's team also observed that ecstasy affects nerve fibres in the brain which can repair themselves again, challenging the idea that ecstasy kills brain cells.

Paul Betts, the father of 18-year-old Leah who died after taking ecstasy has described Dr Cole's article as "despicable".

Do we know enough about ecstasy to make decisions on its effects? Do you think the drug is less worrying now?

This debate is now closed. Read a selection of your comments below.

Your reaction

In Islam, ecstasy would be ruled illegal MC, UK

In Islam, ecstasy would be ruled illegal; it has no benefits for mankind or the progression of man.
MC, UK

Ecstasy itself has very few harmful effects at all - it's the substances that are sold as ecstasy that cloud people's judgement. If every ecstasy pill sold was, in fact, pure MDMA, very few people would suffer side effects or die bar a minority, estimated at 1 in 10,000, who are actually allergic to the drug. The main reason behind why ecstasy causes injury or death at all is that it is produced illegally and with the sole aim of making profit.
Bob, UK

If drugs are not dangerous why do people die from them? Directly or indirectly?
Jeremy Cedenio, UK/Bermuda

Nigel of Scotland et al - the day I listen to you telling me what it's acceptable and unacceptable for me to put into my body is the day I truly perish! I suppose you have no objections to anybody smoking cigarettes, even though they tell you in large letters on the packet that they are going to kill you?! Hell, I bet some of you are even nicotine addicts yourselves, eager for your 20-fag-a-day fix.
Gary, UK

I disagree with the publication of the article Vanessa, Canada

I disagree with the publication of the article when there is still not enough known about the drug to speculate upon its safety. It will give people a false sense of security.
Vanessa, Canada

In Switzerland ecstasy has been declassified to a Class B drug. The reasons for this move was that most users were "socially integrated". Which I guess means that its usage had no bad effect on society as a whole. I think this should be the criteria for which drugs could be de-criminalised. People will always experiment; they should be informed about the dangers and allowed to make their own choice as long as there are no adverse effects on other people.
Eva, Switzerland

Maybe we should turn the tables and make tobacco and alcohol illegal Laura, UK

To the people who state that tobacco and alcohol cause more deaths than ecstasy. Instead of using the comparison to make ecstasy legal maybe we should turn the tables and make tobacco and alcohol illegal. Then watch the death rate in this country go down!
Laura, UK

My brother is in the police. When he arrested a drinker, the guy vomited on his shoes and tried to smash a bottle over his face. When he arrested the ecstasy user, the guy just said 'I love you, man'.
Dan M, UK

In my experience, the most anti-social aspects of ecstasy abuse is the boring conversation and stupid dancing by the people taking it.
Steve Brown, Britain

Deaths attributed to ecstasy are miniscule compared with those caused by smoking and alcohol abuse. But then again, those deaths are miniscule in comparison to the thousands killed on British roads every year. Get a life, understand the mathematics and relax.
Pepe, UK

Whilst the scientists may be entirely correct the danger of drug use is that the user can never be certain of the concentration of dose and chemical composition of substances used to dilute the active agent. As a consequence the effect of the drug is not predictable and the user can unwittingly take too much and die.

Although there are many people that take drugs and survive happily there are a lot of people who suffer, either from crimes committed to pay for drugs or through the loss of loved ones through overdose. I'd recommend keeping all drugs controlled and that way only the truly determined will get their hands on them.
Gavin Pearson, English in USA

Innocent people die because of users' addiction Martin, UK

Yes it is definitely dangerous. All drugs whether soft or hard are dangerous to society. We have campaigns about speeding, drink driving, but it is Ok to go for a night out and take drugs and drive home because it is "cool." Innocent people die because of users' addiction and the resulting crime.
Martin, UK

A factor in this issue that is commonly ignored is the intelligence of young people. Young people are, always have been, and always will be experimental. In particular, they reject authoritarian attempts at guidance. Despite this, most are not stupid - most will not dabble with heroin, drug trafficking or murder, for example. Any open-minded and logical person can see that the risk of dying after taking ecstasy is extremely low. Obviously the stakes are high, but the odds are very good. Young people are not deterred by panic-mongering!
Anthony, UK

In my view, Ecstasy is no more dangerous than fast food. People die of heart disease but you don't see public calls for fast food to be made illegal. The risk is negligible. We should focus on education and even fewer would die. The ignorance of the general public saddens me.
Paul, England

It may be that research that has claimed that Ecstasy is a brain-damaging drug is flawed - after all, we've been living in a great age of "junk science" for about two decades now but it does not therefore follow that Ecstasy does no harm. Any drug that crosses that blood-brain barrier as rapidly as MDMA, and has the drastic effects this drug has, should be avoided, and probably also legally banned. It is important to remember that other non-medicinal drugs we take, like caffeine, and even alcohol, which act rapidly and do no apparent harm, are nature-made, not man-made, and that people have used these "natural" drugs in fairly diluted fashion, as in beverages, (which was the only way people could take them), for thousands of years. That's not the case with man-made drugs like heroin, LSD, or Ecstasy.
Louis Massano, USA

I'm not sure I've enough evidence to be able to say whether E is safe or not but I do have plenty of evidence the alcohol outstrips all drugs when it comes to accidents, violence, abuse and deaths (although nicotine kills more through cancer). We have one death through E and the press is up in arms. Our people are dying by the truckload through alcohol but hardly an eyebrow is raised. Strange don't you think? Oh, by the way, I'm not teetotal either but I do lecture on alcohol and drugs misuse.
Kenneth, Scotland

I have been a High School Principal for almost thirty years. The debate on Ecstasy may be interesting in the abstract, but the REALITY is that this drug, and other drugs inducing a similar genre of psychotic anomalies, clearly presents an extremely poor life choice that society pays for over and over again. Ecstasy has produced unwanted pregnancies, broken families, ruined promising careers and, sadly, has prevented many from reaching their intellectual potential. I find it ironic that many of those who want to save the environment, end poverty and enhance the quality of human life across the globe are so pathetically weak in saying NO to drugs which, both directly and indirectly, cause such societal suffering.
Tom, Cleveland, US

What a waste of a life John Mayer, England

I have an extremely clever son. He sailed through A Levels. Then experimented with drugs. He is now in his early forties. Has never had a job. Been often to prison on drug related charges. His brain is addled and he is a registered drug addict. Myself, I am 73-years old. Never ever experimented with drugs. After seeing what happened to him I have never ever wanted to follow down that path. What a waste of a life.
John Mayer, England

You know people are desperate when they start to compare tobacco, alcohol, and now even sled deaths to "drugs". You simply can not compare the social habits, historical backdrop or statistics of an illegal drug compared to a legal drug. Drugs do nothing more than screw your mind and occupy time with an otherwise boring life. Go and do something rather than live life as a cabbage.
Peter B., CA, USA, UK expat

Let the scientists who feel that Ecstasy is safe feed it to their own children. Perhaps then, they might not feel it is so safe. The parents of children who have taken this drug and died must feel so betrayed. Personally I feel death is a pretty long term effect, or have I got that wrong? Perhaps these same scientists would like to disprove that "theory" too. How irresponsible to make such comments and what gives them the right to say an illegal drug is OK for our children!
Susan, UK/USA

Only time and further research will tell how dangerous this drug is Omar, UK

Let's not forget nicotine was described as harmless when it was first introduced. Also consider the initial argument in favour of the motor car. Since it was really no faster than a horse drawn carriage it was said that it was more environmentally friendly than a horse because a horse excreted everywhere. We shouldn't jump to conclusions - only time and further research will tell how dangerous this drug is.
Omar, UK

With ecstasy, as with so many drugs, there needs to be an open and honest debate with police, scientists, health workers and users so that people can gain a greater understanding of both the causes and effects of drug taking. Hopefully then we as a society can begin to make more educated choices about the future, rather than reacting from a position of fear and ignorance.
Jonathan, UK

Unfortunately the misinformed have the loudest voice Keith, UK

There is a lot of fear against drugs like ecstasy. This fear is fuelled by an ignorance of the facts. Yes people have died from its use but the numbers are miniscule compared to those killed by drink and smoking related deaths. Unfortunately the misinformed have the loudest voice and as a result our kids are not getting access to real information which could save their lives.
Keith, UK

I took hundreds of E's over the years and never felt in any danger, however I must admit, due my excesses in the late 80's my brain became too good at getting rid of serotonin, which caused depression. Believe me, if you don't have serotonin, you'll think your body and brain have been destroyed and are about to die. Once the serotonin was back, I felt fit and healthy again. For over a year, I told people the drug had destroyed me when it hadn't.
CB, United Kingdom

If there are side effects and long term damage I certainly am not suffering at the moment Alan, UK

I have been taking Ecstasy for almost ten years now. I hold a middle management job, have a mortgage and enjoy a very successful and healthy life. If there are side effects and long term damage I certainly am not suffering at the moment. And IF there are long term effects at least I will have enjoyed my life to the full because I am having a bloody good time at the moment!
Alan, UK

Half a million users per week, a handful of deaths per year - and those mainly from dehydration and poor temperature management. Sounds pretty safe to me - after all, we suffer over 10 times as many deaths from "safe" painkillers.
Vernon Bigg, UK

Vernon Bigg, 100 times more people USE painkillers
Johnathan, UK

The long-term effects are immaterial if the short-term effect is death. Any parent who is trying to raise a child in today's drug filled culture has to teach them that playing with drugs is like playing Russian roulette.
Sara, England

Everything in life is dangerous to some degree; even stopping in bed is risky! What a free people in a free country need is a framework for assessing the risk of an activity and making their own choice on their own terms in the context of their own lives. The manufactured moral outrage which surrounds the use of recreational drugs is most odd. It would seem the research is saying that the vast majority of drug users don't die of drug use, something most of us know already. I may not agree with what Paul Betts says but at least I know where he is coming from.
Niall Clarke, Manchester UK

Pete Hazell seems to be missing the point. Life has no absolute safety, anything can cause harm. What is being debated here is why a drug that kills less people than sled accidents is banned? You are more likely to die taking your first paracetamol than your first ecstasy pill, yet one is an acceptable risk while the other is the evil murderer of children. No wonder kids don't know who to talk to when so many adults are so badly informed and have such unfounded reactions.
Matt, Amsterdam, Netherlands

To Matt, Amsterdam: it's possible that I am missing the point, but I don't feel the need to render myself insensible to have a good time. Even if I did, I doubt I could bring myself to do something which has been proved to kill people in order to do so. You can all pretend that ecstasy is good for you if you like, but that won't alter the fact that it is potentially lethal thing to take.
Pete Hazell, UK

To Jamie Wring: the suppression of science may have ended in the dark ages (except for the tobacco industry, which lives in blissful ignorance of anything), but science relies on evidence, such as the number of deaths caused by ecstasy. Surely that is enough of a hint that ecstasy is bad for you, and people claiming that it isn't are as responsible as those who advertise tobacco.
Pete Hazell, UK

More research has to be a good thing Jamie Wring, UK

It's evident we don't know enough about the effects of long term ecstasy use. More research has to be a good thing. With regard to Paul Betts' comment: The suppression of science ended with the dark ages.
Jamie Wring, UK

More people die from eating peanuts each year than from taking ecstasy. Just a thought.
Andrew, UK

We cannot educate people about its safe use Vish, UK

The point isn't whether it is dangerous or not, the yearly ecstasy kill rate doesn't even come near the daily alcohol kill rate. The problem is that because of middle class whingers, we cannot educate people about its safe use. In Denmark and other countries with a more "grown up" societal view, clubs are allowed to provide "chill out" areas, tablet testing to make sure the tabs are pure. That SAVES LVIES, but in this country, if a club tries being responsible, it is closed down. We need to stop demonising those people who teach its safe use.
Vish, UK

I've never touched ecstasy, and therefore have no particular loyalty to it. However, there is well founded research that suggests most ecstasy deaths are actually caused by well-meaning bystanders. The unconscious victim, until that point only suffering from simple heat exhaustion or dehydration is force fed so much water that their brain expands and they die.
Dan, UK

The drug that is the biggest killer is tobacco, why is this not banned, ecstasy has killed much fewer people.
Sunjay Bhogal, London, UK

Why do people react in such a knee jerk fashion when someone suggests that a drug is not as bad for you as previously thought? When people die from ecstasy they are tragic victims of an evil drug, but if someone dies from alcohol poisoning they are just deaths from alcohol? As to the long term effects of MDMA, why not check the German soldiers on whom it was tested as an aid to marching. Surely 57 years is a long enough term to gauge effect.
Nick, UK

Make it legal and regulate its content Peter Finch, England

If 10% of the population have taken it, and have been only 72 deaths caused by the drug, then that proves it is surely safer than alcohol, cigarettes and driving! Make it legal and regulate its content and eventually even that tiny margin of death will be reduced. 1,000,000 people every weekend cannot be wrong!
Peter Finch, England

I do not ever use drugs, but I think all drugs should be legalised, so long as the users pay for them themselves. I have no problem with rock stars and people who work for a living spending their money on drugs. They are hurting no-one but themselves. What I do detest is people who steal to fund their habit. As long as people know the risks and penalties are made more severe for thieves who steal because they cannot afford it.
Phil, Doncaster - UK

What a piece of irresponsible reporting. We don't yet know what the long term effects of ecstasy and other recreational drugs are. And to say that a drug which has killed numerous youngsters is not dangerous is insulting to the families of the victims.
Linda, Wales

If it kills it is dangerous Nigel, Scotland

If this is not a dangerous drug why have people died? If it kills it is dangerous. What meaning of dangerous is Dr Cole using?
Nigel, Scotland