Avoided tablets taken orally (8)
I believe the answer is:
eschewed
'avoided' is the definition.
(eschewing is a kind of avoiding)
'tablets taken orally' is the wordplay.
'tablets' becomes 'es' (E can refer to an ecstasy tablet).
'taken orally' becomes 'chewed'.
'es'+'chewed'='ESCHEWED'
(Other definitions for eschewed that I've seen before include "Deliberately avoided - chew seed (anag)" , "Avioded or abstained from" , "Shunned, kept away from" , "not made use of" , "Steered clear of" .)