Parents, have your teenagers changed from being sullen and morose? Have they started sharing their feelings in long, babbling monologues, and giving you emotional hugs?
Are they asking if they can stay out all night at dances billed as 'alcohol-free'? Have they given up body piercing, and dug up their old teddy bears? Instead of dressing in black and painting their room black, are they draping themselves with fluorescent glow sticks? Have they abandoned their death metal T-shirts in favour of wearing baby pacifiers around their necks?
If so, don't be too happy. They may be on drugs.
The latest drug of choice for the 13- to 25-year-old set is called Ecstasy. The mood-altering chemical makes people feel not only really good but really nice. People on Ecstasy are social, communal and happy with the world. They revert to child-like emotions. They get talkative, opening up to anyone and everyone. Ecstasy is often called 'the hug drug'.
