Talk to Your Kids About… Ecstacy
Ecstacy is a very common and popular drug because it makes people ecstatic, outgoing, and excited. Thus it facillitates creating a fun, exciting, outgoing experience at night clubs and the like. It is a stimulant so it excites you. If you take esctacy the effects will kick in after about 30 minutes of taking the pill. You will feel very alert to your surroundings and colors, sound, music, and emotions will become much more intense. From experiences described to me from my friends, users experience “light lag” meaning lights seem to leave a trail of light when you look from one place to another. This makes this drug particularly popular at raves because at raves clubbers use rave sticks to dance and rave.
Because ecstacy creates intense feelings of euphoria users will be very eager to dance the entire night away. However this posts many risks because users may overheat, become dehydrated, and even shut down from the enormous stress put on the heart. The effects of ecstacy last about three to six hours so the risk for dehyrdation from dancing is very high. Users who have taken ecstacy should drink large amounts of water so that they do not become dehyrdated or collapse from heat stroke.
Ecstacy is a psychoactive drug and is a stimulant. It creates intense feelings of pleasure by inducing the release of endorphins in your body. It does this by emulating the neurotransmitters in your brain and binding the pleasure receptors in your brain so that your brain tells your body to release endorphins. It also illicits the release of other neurotransmitters such as serotinin. However, in consequence from these short intense pleasurable sensations there is a very sharp and hard comedown. Users who use ecstacy will experience extreme depression and lethary for about a week after taking ecstacy. This is due to the fact that the body tries to regain homeostasis from the large amounts of serotonin and endorphins released in such a short amount of time. The counter effects are thus very sharp, fast, and unenjoyable.
People who use ecstacy for prolonged periods of time and regularly may become chronically depressed. Furthermore, prolonged use has been linked in studies to liver and kidney problems. There may also be damage to the brain.
It is important to always remember when at clubs or parties not to take drugs from strangers. If at all possible it is best to avoid them altogether. You should always go with friends and play safe.
