Irish scientists leading street drug research

STREET drugs, such as ecstasy (MDMA) and cannabis, are being examined for their medicinal value.

“When it was banned, it was written off the pendulum,” says Dr John Kelly about ecstasy. Dr Kelly, of NUI Galway’s department of pharmacology and therapeutics, says the stigma of ecstasy made it harder to research.

“Rave culture made it difficult to study MDMA therapeutically, initially,” he says. “However, soldiers returning from war are very vocal, they aren’t going to put up with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). They aren’t worried if the drug is legal or illegal — they think the law should be changed if a drug has benefits.”