Ecstasy use among Hispanic and black substance users in New York City

Surveillance data suggests that use of ecstasy in the U.S. is predominantly among white adolescent and young adults. To investigate ecstasy use among substance users in New York City we added questions to ongoing efforts to recruit heroin and cocaine users. Of 715 participants recruited, 58.3% were injection drug users (IDUs). The median age was 32 (range 17-64), 76.4% were male, 49.0% were currently homeless, 62.4% were Hispanic, 27.3% were black, and 34.5% were born outside the United States. Overall, 23.4% used ecstasy in their lifetime and 11.9% had used in the last-6 months. In multivariate logistic regression, correlates of lifetime ecstasy use included younger age, being born in the U.S., and current homelessness. We observed a significant interaction between injection drug use and race where, compared to black non-IDUs, Hispanic non-IDUs, and white IDUs were significantly more likely to have a history of lifetime ecstasy use while black IDUs were significantly less likely. These findings are limited to persons who use other drugs, but suggest that further investigation of ecstasy use in minority populations is warranted.