Something to remember in this situation is that the way results are depicted in a news article aren't necessarily an accurate portrayal of the project itself. Checking out the source directly is always a good idea - if possible.
I've found the source article:
Rendell, P. G., Gray, T. J., Henry, J. D., & Tolan, A. (2007). Prospective memory impairment in "ecstasy" (MDMA) users. Psychopharmacology, 194(4), 497-504.
Abstract:
RATIONALE: Considerable research indicates that "ecstasy" users perceive their memory for future intentions (prospective memory) to be impaired. However, only one empirical study to date has directly tested how this capacity is affected by ecstasy use, and this study provided relatively limited information regarding the extent, scope, or implications of problems experienced. OBJECTIVES: The present study assessed prospective performance on a laboratory measure of prospective memory that closely represents the types of prospective memory tasks that actually occur in everyday life and provides an opportunity to investigate the different sorts of prospective memory failures that occur ("Virtual Week"). METHOD: Ecstasy user group (27 current users and 34 nonusers) was between participants, and prospective memory task (regular, irregular, time-check) was within participants. A measure sensitive to specific aspects of psychopathology was also administered. RESULTS: Ecstasy users were significantly impaired on Virtual Week, and these deficits were of a comparable magnitude irrespective of the specific prospective memory task demands. The pattern of results was unchanged after controlling for marijuana use, level of psychopathology, and sleep quality. Further, prospective memory was shown to be significantly impaired for both relatively infrequent and relatively frequent ecstasy users, although for the latter group the magnitude of this deficit was greater. CONCLUSIONS: Prospective memory performance is sensitive to regular and even moderate ecstasy use. Importantly, ecstasy users experience generalized difficulties with prospective memory, suggesting that these deficits are likely to have important implications for day-to-day functioning.
Download full text pdf here
I've just had a read over it, not in any great detail, but it certainly seems like a legitimate project. They have certainly made an effort to account for other reasons for the memory deficits in the ecstasy using group, by controlling for current psycho-pathology (eg. depression, psychosis, mental illness) and cannabis/marijuana use. They still found that people using ecstasy fortnightly or more often had greater memory deficits than people using ecstasy monthly or less often, who had greater deficits than non-users.
Two criticisms/comments:
1. This seemed like a problem to me: "To ensure participants’ responses were not influenced by acute effects of ecstasy, both users and nonusers agreed to abstain from taking ecstasy (or any other drugs) for at least 48 h before testing." I'd say they should have asked them to refrain for at least 7 days - people could be at the come-down point here and this would be reflected in the results! It's not clear whether 'other drugs' includes alcohol and prescribed psych drugs, as this would also be important.
2. I'd be interested in knowing whether the memory deficits they found in their testing actually translate to perceived problems for the research participants - ie. do they think they have memory problems or is it not really a problem for them? This is not really the question the researchers are trying to answer, but I think it is very important. Are the memory deficits "clinically significant" or are they just statistically significant?
To conclude, the research is legitimate, as you would expect in this kind of journal. As usual, journalists have spun it out a bit - I agree with previous poster, how can these people be drug users if they forget their next pill
But I think we all have to admit, ecstasy/MDMA is not really a good drug for enhancing one's memory
I often wonder what types of brains our generation will have in a couple of decades.......!