The Truth About Ecstasy
Ecstasy is one of the many street names for 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDMA), a synthetic drug that is structurally similar to methamphetamine and the hallucinogen mescaline. The drug was discovered in Germany in 1913, and was synthesized, developed, and patented by a pharmaceutical company in 1914. It was intended as a weight-loss (anorectic) drug, but because of its side-effects Ecstasy was never marketed.
It was abandoned for 60 years until the 1970’s and early 1980’s when psychiatrists and psychotherapists in the United States used it to faciliate psychotherapy, claiming that it enhanced communication in patient sessions. Some clinicians claim that the drug is potentially valuable as a psychotherapeutic agent, however federal regulators classify Ecstasy, as a drug with no accepted medical use.
On July 1, 1985, Ecstasy was officially banned. Illicit labs were closed and dealers were arrested. The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) placed Ecstasy in the most restricted category, along with heroin and LSD. Although it is now illegal, Ecstasy has emerged as a so-called “party” or “club” drug at raves or all night parties.
Other street names for Ecstasy include E, X, XTC, Adam, M-methyl, Cadillac, White Buddha, Nike Swoosh, Superman, Mitsubishi, White Star, Mercedes, Hug drug, Love drug and Disco Biscuits.
Ecstasy is sold as a pill or a powder in capsules to be taken orally. Sometimes the powder is remove and snorted or smoked. It is rarely injected.
There is no guarantee that the capsules actually contain Ecstasy. Other drugs such as MDA or PCP may be substituted. The expensive capsules, which can cost anywhere from eight to forty dollars, may only contain sugar or baking powder. The drug world is full of deceit and if you use these drugs outside a doctor’s office you might as well be playing Russian Roulette.
Although the use of Marijuana has dropped, the use of Ecstasy has doubled among teens since 1995. One in ten teens has experimented with the drug.
The number of teens who have tried Ecstasy at least once had increased from seven percent to ten percent over the past year. A network of researchers in twenty-one major U.S. metropolitan areas, has reported increased Ecstasy use by young adults and adolescents in many areas of the country in recent years. One third of teens reported they had close friends who used Ecstasy in 2000.
Young people who get caught up in the Rave Scene abuse ecstasy. It has become increasingly available through purchases made in rave clubs.
Two million tablets are smuggled into the United States each week. Estimates suggest that within the Newark, New York and Jersey Shore corridor over 750,000 dosage units are being consumed each week.
The effects of Ecstasy vary widely among different individual. Ecstasy stimulates the release of the neurotransmitter seretonin from brain neurons producing a high that lasts from several minutes to an hour. It can produce stimulate effects such as an enhanced sense of pleasure and self-confidence and increased energy. Its psychedelic effects include feelings of peacefulness, acceptance and empathy.
For the most part, the experience progresses in three phases. The first phase takes place about thirty minutes after taking the drug. There is a period of slight disorientation and distress, which may include chills. Sweating, nausea and uncontrollable rapid eye movements called nystagmus. In some cases the experience never progresses beyond this phase. For these users Ecstasy becomes a horrifying nightmare of throwing up and painful dry heaves. During the second phase the discomfort is followed by “happy sociability” that can last from two to four hours. As users approach the third stage some hallucinate and then eventually crash. Feelings of anxiety, confusion and depression usually last about twenty-four hours, but may hang on for weeks.
Ecstasy users may encounter problems similar to those experienced by amphetamine and cocaine users, including addiction.
Ecstasy’s psychological effects can include confusion, depression, sleep problems, anxiety and paranoia during and sometimes weeks after taking the drug.
Physical effects can include muscle tension, involuntary teeth clenching, nausea, blurred vision, faintness and chills or sweating. Increases in heart rate and blood pressure are a special risk for people with circulatory or heart disease.
Due to its name and the lack of knowledge about this drug Ecstasy is looked at as a relatively safe drug, but recent studies show that it may cause long-term brain damage. It harms neurons that release serotonin, a brain chemical thought to play an important role in regulating memory and other functions. Heavy Ecstasy users have memory problems that persist for at least two weeks after they have stopped using the drug. The extent of damage is directly correlated with the amount of Ecstasy use.
Studies showed that heavy Ecstasy users had significant impairments in visual and verbal memory. The memory impairments found in Ecstasy users are among the first functional consequences of Ecstasy-induced damage of serotonin neurons to emerge. Studies also suggest that Ecstasy use may lead to impairments in other cognitive functions besides memory, such as the ability to reason verbally or sustain attention.
The time that Ecstasy-induced brain damage persists and the long-term consequences of that damage are other questions researchers are trying to answer. The loss of seretonin neurons in humans may last for many years and possibly be permanent.
There have been thirteen Ecstasy-related deaths in the United States since 1998, including a twenty-one year old college student who collapsed on the dance floor at a rave in an underground garage in October of 1999. The rave was attended by about 3,500.
Another Ecstasy related death was that of a twenty-three year old Nova Scotia man. He too was at a rave and overdosed with four hits of Ecstasy throughout the evening. He left behind his fiancÃ?©’ who was pregnant with their first child.
In Solano County, a seventeen-year-old overdosed and died at a friend’s Vacaville home after taking multiple pills through the course of an evening.
Ecstasy-related deaths have not only been recorded in the United States. A twenty-seven year old New Zealand woman collapsed outside a nightclub in Karangahape Rd.
As long as people continue to be uneducated about this drug, the death rate will continue to increase.
Ecstasy use is sweeping the nation and too many people do not realize that it is not a harmless drug. For some it may fit the definition in the dictionary, but for others it becomes a deadly Ecstasy.
