AGONY OVER ECSTASY2

Rip It Up, Issue 230, 1 October 1996, Page 9

AGONY OVER ECSTASY 2

I am concerned at an advertisement my 14 year old found in the latest copy of

your magazine. Advertising ‘Ecstasy 2 , the world’s only organic ecstasy experience’, it shows a dazed young woman being fed a pill, ‘sensual euphoria, satisfaction guaranteed’, with a 24-hour 0800 number to order. The ad is also in this month’s Dolly magazine, pitched at 1112 year old girls. My daughter (with my permission) called and was told the item would give you, “a really good hit”. Apparently you wait one or two hours after taking four or five tablets and are then high for six to eight hours, cost $39.95 for 10 tablets, with just a credit card number over the phone. She asked if there was any age restriction and when told she was just 14, the operator said, “Of course not,” nor would there be any objection to her using it at school. Her friend, also 14, ordered some over the phone using her parents’ credit card number obtained from the latest receipt. The item is said to contain 12 legal herbs, including some potent Mexican stimulant, but no analysis is available.

As a. parent I was concerned enough to take the ad to the police but was told it must be legal, and the only complaint could be through advertising regulatory bodies. Other parents of early teens I have shown the ad to are as horrified as I that you have allowed this product to be advertised in your magazine, which should have a more responsible attitude towards the impressionable nature of its demographic. (The ratio of alcohol and cigarette advertising, though, would indicate you are not too concerned about your readership’s health and welfare.) A number of parents have now banned their children from buying RipltUp. I am appalled that as a responsible publisher ■you should accept an advertisement for a product quite clearly pitched at leading youngsters into drug use of any kind. We have had several recent deaths amongst Hamilton high school students using illegally obtained Ecstasy (the non-organic kind), and ‘organic’ is obviously no protection against misuse — marijuana and opium are also organic. ’ ! ‘ ‘ ! I would be interested in your explanation for accepting this type of advertis-

ing, and I have raised the matter with the Ministers of Health, Commerce and Youth Affairs, Local MPs, and advertising regulatory bodies. LT, Hamilton.

Editor replies: We carry advertising for legal products. We do care for the welfare of our readers but we can’t decide what legal product is good or not good for them. Our area of expertise is music not dietary supplements. RipltUp is targetted at the young adult music market, the majority of our readers are 18 years or older. We avoid coverage of artists, such as Peter Andre or Silverchair, who appeal to the young teen demographic. In 19 years of publishing we have never carried cigarette advertisements. We do carry alcohol advertising as do most magazines from NZ Women’s Weekly to Readers Digest (both these titles have more young teen readers than RipltUp).