A pilot study in America is investigating if the illegal drug ecstasy will help terminally ill cancer patients to cope better with demanding end of life issues.

Anecdotal stories indicate that people who have taken ecstasy when dying from cancer felt able to talk to family and friends about death-related subjects that they were unable to tackle previously, noted John Halpern, the psychiatrist at Harvard Medical School leading the trial (www.telegraph.co.uk, 13 January 2005). The 4 month Food and Drug Administration approved trial will recruit 12 terminally ill cancer patients to assess if taking ecstasy, which is known to give users a euphoric feeling — increased empathy, energy and sexual arousal — helps alleviate a patient's fear of death.

However, concerns have been raised. “There's more research coming in all the time pointing out that there really is adverse effects of using these illicit drugs”, stated Jeanette Tait of the Australian Medical Association Queensland public health committee (www.theaustralian.news.com.au, 30 December 2004). Yet others have expressed guarded support for the trial, “...when taken in the context of carefully structured and approved research protocols and facilitated by individuals with expertise, adverse effects can be contained to a minimum”, said psychiatrist Charles Grob at Harbour-UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/, 28 December 2004).

John Halpern summed up the aim of this trial by saying “This is not about trying to create some sensationalistic storm. This is about trying to help these patients in a meaningful way” (www.cbsnews.com, 27 December 2004).