PicoDash

It would appear that both pure Ecstasy and Prozac exert their pharmacological effect on the serotonin receptor sites in the brain. Why is the former illegal and the latter widely prescribed legally?

• SEROTONIN is a chemical in the brain which affects a number of things, including mood. People suffering from clinical depression have lower than average levels of serotonin in their brains. Prozac gradually restores serotinin to its proper level, then maintains that level. It has no effect on mood in people who are not suffering from depression. Ecstasy, in contrast, releases a sudden excess or rush of serotonin which produces an elevated mood for several hours afterwards. In fact, the massive release of serotonin may leave nerve cells depleted and cause irreversible brain damage. Mood can be thought of as a light bulb and serotonin as the voltage which keeps it glowing. Too little voltage and it goes dim (depression). Prozac restores the voltage and brightness to normal. Ecstasy produces a blinding flash as the bulb burns out. Finally, prozac is a strictly controlled medicine, whereas the manufacture and sale of Ecstasy is unregulated and dangerous.

  Dr A Simpson (Medical Director, Eli Lilly), Basingstoke, Hants.

• Mark Williamson is correct