MediNat Australia

Brain damage 'crisis' looms from illicit drug use By Alina Eacott - ABC NEWS  ..........Dr Wilcox said the national household drug survey in 2010 showed 1.9 million people had tried ecstasy, and almost one million had experimented with drugs such as methamphetmine. "Australia and New Zealand have a two to five times higher rate of the use of stimulant drugs than anywhere else in the world," he said............... A high rate of illegal stimulant use in Australia has prompted fears of a looming health crisis. Researchers in Adelaide are investigating links between stimulant use and an increased risk of people developing Parkinson's disease. They said many drug users were developing a brain abnormality which also was seen in people afflicted with Parkinson's. "People who have used illegal stimulants in the past have a change in a brain region that's right in the middle of their brain called the susbtantia nigra," expla...