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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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Australia: Dope Lessens Ecstasy Harm
Sarah Stock, Medical Reporter The Australian
Saturday 02 Feb 2002 THE harmful effects of ecstasy on brain cells and people's moods could be lessened by smoking dope at the same time, a world-first study by Australian researchers has found. Sydney University associate professor of psychology Iain McGregor and a research team found in experiments on rats that ecstasy causes anxiousness and a depletion of brain messenger cells. However, when rats are given ecstasy and cannabis together they have less depletion of brain cells and are less anxious. While they are not as badly affected as rats given cannabis alone or no drugs, the effects are not as bad as those brought about by ecstasy use alone. Dr McGregor said the study was done because about half of ecstasy users at dance parties also used cannabis. Because ecstasy is toxic to nerve cells it can lead to depression, anxiety or memory loss. The results of the study will be presented at a meeting of the Australian Neuroscience Society in Sydney next week. Dr McGregor said he believed the reason cannabis use lessened the effects of ecstasy was because cannabis cools the brain. Many of the harmful effects of ecstasy are believed to be caused by the drug's overheating of the brain. However, Dr McGregor said there may be other harmful effects associated with combining the two drugs that the study did not monitor. He said generally combining drugs was very dangerous and could have unintended consequences. "It is not a rational approach to safeguard your health to take two drugs instead of one," he said.
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