Background to the Research

• Following the paramilitary cease-fires, greater public attention focused on the use of 'recreational' drugs and in the late 1990s broadened to include alleged increases in heroin availability, use and 'abuse'. This article explores the ways in which drug users (Ecstasy users) compare the drug use of other 'more serious' users (heroin users) to frame and understand their own usage.
  

Research Approach

• This article uses data collected during 98 in-depth interviews with current or former Ecstasy users in NI.
  

Main Findings

• Males accounted for 69% of the sample, respondents' ages ranged from 17 to 45 years and the mean age was 25 years.
• Forty-nine per cent of respondents identified themselves as working class, 46% as middle class and 5% as being 'between' working and middle class. Fifty-seven per cent of the sample were employed in part- or full-time work.
• Forty-four per cent had used Ecstasy on at least 100 different occasions, whilst 18% had used Ecstasy on 12 occasions or less. Seventy-seven per cent of the sample were current users of the drug, 18% were former users (stated they would not use Ecstasy again) and 5% were trying to stop using or were not sure whether they would use again.
• The majority of the sample had tried a number of different drugs, cannabis was the most preferred and most often used. Other respondents had used hallucinogens, stimulants or depressants, 11% had tried heroin through snorting, smoking or injecting, although only 5% had used heroin in the 6 months prior to interview.
• Respondents tended to characterise drugs as being 'good' (e.g. Ecstasy) and 'not good' (heroin). Users of Ecstasy were much more likely to view their own drug use in recreational terms - having a good time - whereas heroin users and injectors were not.
• Frequency of use by respondents was not related to attitudes about heroin, several heavy users of Ecstasy voiced negative views on heroin users. For example, one respondent with heavy Ecstasy usage perceived heroin users as having a drug problem and another heavy user stated that heroin users were abusing their bodies.
• A number of respondents viewed heroin and injection, and heroin users, as 'dirty' and 'scummy'. Several were extremely critical of injectors behaviours and lifestyles, viewing them as anti-social and irresponsible. Other respondents expressed linkages between heroin and crime.
• Overall, 42% of respondents in the sample held negative beliefs (characterised by stereotypes, unfair judgements and false information) about heroin or heroin users and 49% held no negative beliefs.
• Forty-nine per cent of the current users of Ecstasy held negative views about heroin and heroin users compared to 53% of the former users.
• In relation to lifestyle use of Ecstasy, negative views abut heroin were more often voiced by people who had very limited experience with Ecstasy (2-12 episodes = 54%) and by people who had consumed the drug on 100 occasions ore more (51%).
• Twenty-two per cent of respondents claimed to have taken an Ecstasy tablet laced with heroin and the majority reported this as a negative experience. Some respondents believed that heroin-laced tablets were likely to be the reason for a negative experience with Ecstasy.
• Whilst respondents suggested that Ecstasy tablets containing heroin could be identified by certain labels - 'speckles', 'crowns', no consistent pattern emerged from the data that pointed to one particular 'brand' of Ecstasy that was laced with heroin.

Conclusions

• Respondents clearly distinguished Ecstasy from heroin and tended to view heroin and heroin users in negative terms. This enables Ecstasy users to view their own drug use as more acceptable, safer and recreational.
• The dichotomy between Ecstasy and heroin use employed by Ecstasy users reflects the official discourse in relation to drug use in NI in the pre-ceasefire era, as defined by a polarised 'other' which is seen as more serious, deviant and threatening.
• At a superficial level, the data suggest that many users of Ecstasy view heroin as 'evil' and a drug to avoid, this gives little support to the notion that Ecstasy is a gateway drug to heroin. However, ongoing research suggests that heroin users themselves once held negative views on heroin. Future research needs to focus on the reasons that perceptions of heroin change for some drug users who begin to use heroin despite once holding negative views.