MDMA
From Drug Rehab Wiki
MDMA stands for 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine, the chemical name for a recreational drug commonly known as Ecstasy. It was originally formulated in Germany in 1910 as an appetite suppressant. As a street drug, its effects are considered something like a combination of LSD and amphetamine.
Ecstasy was extremely popular in the mid-1990s among people ages 14 to 30 years old. Groups would meet in private homes or nightclubs for "rave" parties, where participants took the drug to induce feelings of warmth and love while dancing to "rave" music. According to the 2004 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 11 million people over age 12 said they tried the drug at least once, and about 450,000 used it within the last month of the survey. However, government figures also indicate that use of the drug among high school students dropped by as much as 70% between 2001 and 2005. The likely reason is that the quality of the drug declined so that it no longer produced the effects users want. Nevertheless, MDMA is the third most widely abused street drug, ranking after marijuana and methamphetamine.
Ecstasy provides both stimulant and psychedelic effects that last three to six hours. As their heart rates, blood pressure and body temperatures rise, users feel energized. The psychological effects are mental stimulation, decreased anxiety, emotional warmth, empathy toward others, and an increased sense of well being.
The problem is that Ecstasy also has negative effects that can appear up to a week after using it, such as anxiety, sadness, restlessness, sleep problems, impulsivity, thirst, aggression, decreased interest in sex, and reduced cognitive ability. Some people experience major personality changes after using Ecstasy for a long time, and they become irritable, depressed, and worried what others think of them. Animal studies indicate that the long-range effects of the drug may include neuron damage and memory impairment. Some research indicates that in humans, long-term Ecstasy use is linked to changes in brain activity in regions involved in cognition, emotion, and motor function, but these studies are inconclusive.
The most common danger of Ecstasy is that users can become overheated, especially while dancing to fast music for hours, and experience a sudden adverse reaction, even death. For reasons not completely understood, Ecstasy interferes with the body's ability to dissipate heat and thus the person develops hyperthermia, leading to sudden cardiac and respiratory failure. Other users have died when blood clots formed and lodged in their brains. Some get physically sick from MDMA and experience nausea, chills, sweating, involuntary teeth clenching, muscle cramping, and blurred vision.
People who are overdosing on Ecstasy have symptoms such as high blood pressure, faintness, panic attacks, and even loss of consciousness and seizures. Most people who need medical emergency treatment after using the drug have combined it with other substances such as alcohol, marijuana, cocaine and so forth, so their reactions tend to be more severe than if they had used only Ecstasy.
People can develop a psychological dependency on Ecstasy, and they tell their therapists that life is boring without their drug. Although they do not have to go through physical withdrawal, many need counseling to learn to live without their drug of choice.
When psychologists first experimented with the drug in the 1980s, they believed that it could help their patients become more empathetic toward others and could alleviate depression. Today some researchers are experimenting with it as an aid for people with post-traumatic stress syndrome. Nevertheless, the American government still classifies MDMA as a Schedule I Controlled Substance, meaning it has high potential for abuse and no legitimate medical uses, and that the penalties for using, making, selling or possessing it are the most severe.
