Ecstasy-Viagra mix alarms doctors

By Donna Leinwand, USA TODAY

An increasing number of American youths who use the club drug Ecstasy are mixing it with the anti-impotency drug Viagra, leading drug-abuse specialists to warn about the health risks of a combination that users say fuels all-night dancing and marathon sex.

The combined drugs - known in the club scene as "sextasy" - began as a fad among youths in England and Australia. About a year ago, officials of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration began hearing reports that the mixture had become popular in this country's gay party culture.

Now, drug-abuse analysts say, anecdotal reports from across the USA indicate that sextasy has become one the most recent products of a dangerous trend: Young clubgoers taking "cocktail pills" that can include as many as a half-dozen drugs.

Ecstasy, also known as MDMA, is a stimulant with hallucinogenic properties. A U.S. government study in 2001 indicated that about 12% of high school seniors had tried it. That was well less than the usage rate for marijuana, but it represented a huge jump from 1998.

Users in the club and rave scenes say it gives them the energy to dance all night and enhances their senses. But Ecstasy also hinders sexual function. To compensate, some young men take Viagra, a prescription drug normally used to treat men who have decreased sexual function or who are recovering from prostate cancer.

Doctors warn that combining the two drugs can cause heart problems or erections that don't subside for more than four hours, possibly leading to anatomical damage. There have been scattered reports of such injuries across the country, officials say.

In Internet chat rooms that cater to those in the club scene, talk of multiple-drug combinations - particularly Ecstasy and Viagra - is becoming more common.

This month, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police warned about combination drugs. Anti-drug police units in Canada analyzed about 1,200 pills seized at clubs and raves, and found that fewer than one-fifth contained one illicit drug — in this case, Ecstasy.

"It's not uncommon to see a capsule, tablet or powder with six different drugs," Cpl. Scott Rintoul of the RCMP says. The most prevalent combination has been Ecstasy, methamphetamine, the anesthetic ketamine and caffeine.

"There's a consumer population who wants meth with Ecstasy and other drugs," Rintoul says. "Now the drug dealers are responding to consumer demands" for Viagra.

Drug-abuse specialists who work in Washington state say youths there have told them about the popularity of sextasy pills. "They are stealing (Viagra) from their next-door neighbors," says Ellen Silverman, a policy specialist at Washington state's Department of Social and Health Services.

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Sextasy: MDMA/Ecstasy plus Viagra