“Ordinary” People with “Normal” Lives? a Longitudinal Study of Ecstasy and other Drug use among Norwegian Youth

Abstract

Ecstasy users have been described as “ordinary people” with “normal lives” in recent literature, but little empirical evidence exists to support this portrayal. One may assume, however, that such a rosy portrayal is more likely to fit individuals who consume drugs that are more commonly used (e.g., cannabis). With this in mind, we have explored characteristics of different categories of drug users by analyzing data from a general population study of young people in Norway (n = 2,761). Respondents were assessed three times over a period of seven years (mean age at time 3 = 21.6 years). Results showed that ecstasy users, cannabis users, and users of “traditional” hard drugs were all relatively unremarkable with respect to socio-economic characteristics. On the other hand, they all tended to have a less favorable family background than nonusers of drugs, and their rates of past and present legal substance use, mental health problems, and antisocial behavior were also much higher. Individuals who included ecstasy in their drug-taking repertoire had a somewhat more deviant profile than other drug users, indicating that their public image of being ordinary and well adjusted is highly overstated. This image did not fit “pure” cannabis users very well either.