Ecstasy/MDMA - What You Need to Know

MDMA is short for methylene-dioxy-methampehtamine, but is more commonly known as ecstasy, for the euphoric feelings it produces. Its street names include, but certainly are not limited to beans, wheels, rolls, Scooby Snacks, and Molly. According to Release, a United Kingdom website informing readers of their rights when it comes to drugs, ecstasy's constituents occur naturally in both nutmeg and sassafras oil.

MDMA is commonly thought of as a hallucinogen, but even though it shares a chemical relationship with the psychedelic drug mescaline, it is actually classified as an amphetamine. In the Encyclopedia Britannica it states that MDMA was originally developed in 1913 to be used as an appetite suppressant, but was never approved for public release. In the 1950s and 60s, it was used by psychiatrists as a therapeutic tool because it increases the production of serotonin and blocks its re-absorption into the brain. It also increases the amount of dopamine in the brain. In 1985, MDMA was made illegal.

Ecstasy is now mostly manufactured in Western Europe. According to the White House Drug Policy, the national wholesale price range for MDMA ranges from five US dollars to seventeen and the national retail price is $10-$60 per tablet. This drug is almost always swallowed and comes in a tablet or capsule form which is usually 100-125 milligrams. Ecstasy comes in many different "brands" such as Motorola, Mitsubishi, Butterflies, Playboy, Eeyor (the sad donkey from Whinny the Pooh), and many more. Just because two pills have the same brand, does not mean that they are the same chemical compound. Pure MDMA is rare; most tablets that are sold on the street contain other drugs such as acid and heroin.

The popularity of ecstasy is growing. Studies from the National Institute on Drug Abuse say that 10% of the twelfth graders surveyed said that they had used MDMA in the 12 months prior to the survey. What used to be a drug for young, white "raver kids" can now be found used among all races and ages.

The effects of the drug begin to show about 30 minutes after taking the pill and the user will reach the peak anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes after that. The effects of pure MDMA include increased sense of happiness and energy, rapid eye movement, blurred vision, and a decrease in appetite. These effects will last from three to six hours, but depression, sleep problems, and anxiety have been reported up to weeks afterwards. Writer Liz O'Brien said that "The second time I took ecstasy was like being thrown full-throttle into a tornado of joy. I felt gloriously free and literally ecstatic, and at the same time completely lucid. The music was insanely intense. My friends were extraordinarily witty and wise creatures. The world seemed less daunting, more filled with love."

People who take MAIOs, an antidepressant prescribed for depression accompanied by anxiety, could have fatal results if they use ecstasy while they are taking these medications. MAOI users need to allow at least two weeks between the last does of antidepressants and first dose of ecstasy to be safe.

Antidepressant users who take SSRIs such as Prozac, Paxil, and Zoloft, do not take the same risk of fatality that MAOI users do. Prozac is broken down by the same liver enzyme as MDMA, but this does not cause any serious problems. People who are taking SSRIs should not waste their money on ecstasy as their antidepressants prevent the MDMA from working.

DMX, a component of most over the counter cough medicines, can cause major problems when used in conjunction with ecstasy. Like ecstasy, DMX raises your body temperature. It prevents your body from sweating and cooling itself down which increases your likelihood for a heat stroke. Sometimes black market ecstasy already contains some DMX which may cause hallucinations and make you itch (side effects which are normally not felt when using MDMA).
People who have pre-existing health problems such as sickle-cell anemia, diabetes, and epilepsy should also avoid ecstasy. According to Dance Safe, people who are prone to seizures are more likely to experience one if they take MDMA. People with heart conditions are at risk because a 125 milligram tablet of MDMA increases your heart beat by 30 beats per minute and increases the likelihood of a heart attack. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, "Recent animal studies have shown that binge use of MDMA is toxic to the heart. Health effects observed included arrhythmia, heart muscle damage, and reductions in heart rate and blood pressure."

While ecstasy does not cause liver problems on its own, it can worsen problems that already exist. However, even if you have never had kidney problems before, trying ecstasy just once can lead to a kidney infection and even kidney stones.

The biggest risk of taking ecstasy is heatstroke which is commonly mistaken for an "ecstasy overdose". People who are taking ecstasy should drink two to four cups of water, juice, or a sports drink to avoid heatstroke. If you notice that you have a failure to sweat, cramps in your legs, arms, and back, dizziness, fatigue, vomiting, fainting, irritability, or are confused, you could be having a heatstroke. If you think you are having a heatstroke you should immediately get in a cool area, drink water, and call for help.

On the opposite end of the spectrum from heatstroke is water toxicity. Sometimes ecstasy users are too worried about becoming dehydrated and consume too much water, dramatically decreasing their electrolytes. This is an extremely rare risk that MDMA users take, but a few fatalities have actually occurred from water toxicity.

Depression is extremely common for ecstasy users. It is one reason people start using, but is also a result of using. Prevention methods for depression before and while using ecstasy include eating well, sleeping, using a low dosage, and not taking another pill once you start to come down from your peak. To prevent neurotoxic damage you should also take a couple Vitamin E and Vitamin C pills at the same time as the ecstasy. After coming down, Dance Safe suggests using the amino-acid supplement 5 hydroxytryptophan to reduce depression.

Other than physical risks ecstasy users face, they can also get into considerable legal trouble as a result of selling, using, being in possession of, or under the influence of ecstasy. MDMA is a schedule one drug which means it has no legitimate therapeutic use; however it is still being tested in Spain and Israel for treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder according to Dance Safe. MDMA falls in with the class A drugs putting it right up there beside cocaine and heroin. According to the White House Drug Policy, in the year 2000, the Ecstasy Anti-Proliferation Act was passed. This act increased the sentence for trafficking 800 pills from 15 months to five years.

While using ecstasy may not be the safest thing in the world to do, it is given an excessively bad reputation. One extremely common misconception of using MDMA is that it puts holes in your brain. Dance Safe says that this misconception is a result of a guest on the Oprah TV show sharing her PET scan. This guest was a user of ecstasy, but also many other drugs. In her PET scan, there appear to be holes in the brain, but these are not literal holes, they are areas that are low in sugar and blood-flow, therefore they do not appear on the PET scan. Another rumor about ecstasy is that it causes Parkinson's disease and deposits excess water into your brain, neither of which are true.

Dance Safe. 25 Mar. 2006 (http://www.dancesafe.org/).

"Ecstasy." Encyclopedia Britannica. 2006. 23 Mar. 2006 (http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9343568?query=MDMA&ct=).

"Ecstasy." Release. 25 Mar. 2006 (http://www.release.org.uk/html/~drug_menu/ecstasy.php).

"MDMA (Ecstasy) Fact Sheet." White House Drug Policy. 25 Mar. 2006 (http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/factsht/mdma/index.html).

"NIDA Drugs of Abuse and Related Topics - Heroin." National Institute on Drug Abuse. 24 Mar. 2006
(http://www.nida.nih.gov/).

O'brien, Liz. "The Agony After Ecstasy." Salon.Com (2000). 24 Mar. 2006 (http://archive.salon.com/health/feature/2000/06/14/ecstasy/index.html).