Real+Life+Stories

=Cathy Isford =
 * Took Ecstasy at her prom along with thirty-eight other students. Within four hours she was admitted to the hospital where she later passed away.

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=Steven Lorenz =
 * Fell for the line "Ecstasy isn't a drug, it's just a way of getting happier and becoming more energetic." He bought what he thought was Ecstacy from a drug dealer, not knowing that what the dealer was selling him was actually a cheaper form of Ecstasy called PMA (PMA is cheaper to manufacture and can trick drug sniffing dogs but it also causes very bad reactions).

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= = =Sara Aeschliman =
 * Was hanging out at a boys house whom she had rejected, so to get back at her he figured while she was under the influence he would put ecstasy in her drink without her knowing and wait for the drug to have its affect so he could rape her. Sara ended up having a seizure and dropped to the floor convulsing. The boy watched her suffer on the floor for six hours before calling someone. He never did call for emergency help.

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="E" is for Empty: Daniel's Story =

By: Laura D'Angelo
Daniel, 17, of San Clarita California, wanted his prom night to be special and memorable. So in his pocket of his tuxedo Daniel reached in and took out pills stamped with images of Tweety Bird and Buddha. Now Ecstasy may look harmless but Daniel found out the hard way how dangerous and effective ecstasy can be. "My heart was racing so fast. I thought I was having a heart attack," Daniel said. His legs wouldn't stop trembling so had to be helped into the prom. "I felt like a movie star."

Later on at a friend's house, Daniel crashed into gloom and confusion. He also had swallowed two more "E" pills. Taking multiple doses within a relatively short time multiplies the toxic risks of any drug. With ecstasy, "stacking," or doubling the dose, carries high risk. The level of ecstasy builds and the user's body can't keep up with the amount of drug in his or her blood. This unfortunately is what happened to Daniel.

"I laid down on the bed for a few minutes and couldn't life my head," he said. "My legs were rocking back and forth."

The next weekend, Daniel brought "E" to a party where some 200 kids danced on a dirt clearing. Before he knew it, Daniel was selling ecstasy. "I'd walk into a party and yell E and people would crowd around. I felt a sense of power." With the profits Daniel continued to buy more ecstasy which he took often, always with other kids. "I did drugs so I didn't have to feel alone," he said.

Soon Daniel was taking up to 5 "E" pills a day. Daniel began to sell other drugs in order to get the profits he needed to feed his habit. "I was skinny. My skin was the color of paper. My teeth were rotting out," Daniel said. "I would steal anything I could get my hands on. I stole valuables from my dad. I didn't see anything wrong with the way I was acting."

It got to the point where one of Daniel's friends mother wanted to buy drugs from him. Daniel delivered the bag of speed to the house and Daniel watched his friends face crumble in sadness. "I felt really bad. I saw lives being destroyed because of what I was doing," he said.

On New Year's Eve, something happened to Daniel. His girlfriend called him a "drug addict" and a "lowlife." Daniel thought he was going to be living alone in the streets nd that scared the daylights out of him as he recalled. The next morning, he went to his father and said, "Dad, I need help."

Daniel, a resident of Phoenix House, a drug treatment center in Lake View Terrace, California, Daniel has been clean for six months. He has gained weight back and he cares about himself again. However he feels like he has suffered brain damage and worries about the effects of ecstasy. "Sometimes I get stuck in conversations, because I can't find a word." Sometimes he walks the perimeter and stops in horror, forgetting where he's going.

"I got into drugs because I felt like no one loved me. Then nobody wanted to be around me because of the drugs, and I ended up completely alone," he said. "I feel like a new person now."