Ecstasy (MDMA)
Ecstasy (MDMA) History
A History of MDMA
MDMA was first synthesized in 1912. It was patented in Germany by the Merck Company in 1914. At that time it was not the subject of human research.
Merck stumbled across MDMA when they tried to synthesize Hydrastinin, a vasoconstrictive and styptic medicine.
MDMA was an unplanned by-product of this synthesis. As usual, the process of its synthesis was patented.
It can not be reconstructed to what extent Merck tested MDMA and what the results of such testing were, but it can be excluded with certainty that MDMA was ever considered as an appetite suppressant.
In the 1950s it was briefly researched by the U.S. Government as part of the CIA's and the Army's chemical warfare investigations, a commissioned research in 1953/54 on MDA, MDMA and other substances as a truth serum. They proved to be unsuitable for this purpose.
The results of this research were not published until 1973. The first reported recreational use was in the 1960s.
In the middle 1970s, it was rediscovered by the psychedelic therapy community and began to be used as an adjunct to psychotherapy by psychiatrists and therapists who were familiar with the field of psychedelic psychotherapy. MAPS published a book, The Secret Chief, about the leader of this therapy community.
The above info came from MAPS, for more, on The Struggle to Conduct Research into the Therapeutic Use of MDMA, go to the MAPS Website.
More History of MDMA
In the early 1980s, the drug began to be used non-medically, particularly in Texas, under the name Ecstasy.
Both the non-medical and therapeutic use of MDMA were made illegal in 1985 despite the Drug Enforcement Administration Administrative Law Judge Francis Young's recommendation that physicians be permitted to continue to administer it to their patients.
Soon afterwards its use rapidly spread outside the United States as well. In Dallas, where alcohol was prohibited at the Southern Methodist University, students bought legal MDMA as a substitute, paying by credit card.
The US consumption rose from 10,000 doses in the whole year of 1976 to 30,000 doses a month in 1985. At the same time the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) reported that 30,000 doses a month were being used in the state of Texas alone.
A 1987 survey revealed that 40% of students on the campus of Stanford University had used MDMA. In 1985 MDMA was prohibited by the Drug Enforcement Administration, when it was given the same status as heroin and LSD.
Brief Description Of Ecstasy
MDMA (also commonly known as Ecstasy, X, E, XTC, Adam, etc.) is a semi-synthetic chemical compound. In its pure form, it is a white crystalline powder. It usually seen in capsule form, in pressed pills, or as loose powder.
Average cost ranges from $10-$30 (U.S.) a dose (1999 price). Common routes of administration are swallowing or snorting, although it can be smoked or injected as well.
Currently, MDMA is on the U.S. Schedule I of controlled substances, and is illegal to manufacture, possess, or sell in the United States. Most other countries have similar laws.
A large number of substances are sold under the name of XTC, including amphetamine, ketamine, PCP, and caffeine, as well as a range of 'normal' medicines as pure fakes.
Entactogens: MDA, MDMA and MDEA
METHYLENEDIOXIAMPHETAMINE (MDA)
Shulgin describes the hallucinogenic effect of MDA as follows: 'it produces eyes closed hallucinations of a commanding sort. There is quite consistently a recollection of past events, of childhood memories, a reliving of earlier times that appear to be, as far as can be documented, quite accurate.'
MDA seemed to be unique in that it reinforces mainly emotions and empathy to a high degree and creates a strong emotional link with others present. It was these effects which made MDA popular as a recreational drug. MDA also has a clear sympathomimetic activity.
The usual dose is between 80 and 160 mg, and the effect lasts for 8 to 12 hours. In connection with the search for a truth drug, this substance was administered by the US army to a number of test persons, in some cases without their knowledge. In one case, a psychiatric patient, the intravenous injection of 500 mg was fatal.
METHYLENEDIOXIMETAMPHETAMINE (MDMA)
'The first effect is very fast, within half an hour of consumption. Most test persons report that the plateau of the effect begins within another half hour to one hour.
The symptoms of~intoxication have largely vanished after another two hours, apart from the slight remains of sympathomimetic stimulation, which can last for a number of hours more. There are few physical symptoms of intoxication, and psychological post symptoms are virtually absent.
In qualitative terms, the drug seems to elicit an easily controllable changed state of consciousness with emotional and sensual overtones. In terms of effect, it can be compared with marihuana, psilocybin without the hallucinatory component, or low doses of MDA.'
Ten years later, an anonymous informant, a respectable fifty year old, described the effect as follows:
'The drug removes all your neuroses. It takes away the fear of response. There is an overwhelming sense of peace, you are at peace with the world. You feel open, clear, tender.
I can't imagine that anyone is angry under its influence, or selfish or mean of defensive. You have lots of insight into yourself, real insight, which you hold on to after the experience is gone.'
METHYLENEDIOXIETHYLAMPHETAMINE (MDEA)
This variant hardly differs from MDMA. It is a bit milder: the dose is around 135 mg and it takes effect for 3 to 5 hours. The main difference from MDMA is that 'the special, magic effect and the affective transfer seem to be absent'.
Hallucinogenic Effect
The fact that there is a debate on the possible hallucinogenic effect of MDMA is probably caused by the fact that users regularly report (mild) hallucinations, but it is never certain that they really have been using MDMA, for they might have bought low doses of LSD or MDA thinking it was XTC.
There are also indications that a small part of the MDMA is converted into MDA in the body. This conversion is not significant in the case of regular doses, but this might cause hallucinations if taken in large doses.
Negative Effects Among Users
From Drug Abuse USA.
The following acute complications have been described.
cardiac complications
hyperthermia/hyperpyrexia (overheating) resulting in rhabdomyolysis, diffuse intravasal clotting and collapse of the kidneys;
hepatotoxicity
psychoses
The cardiac complications all occurred among persons with already existing, though sometimes unidentified, cardiac problems.
Hyperthermia with all kinds of potentially lethal complications has been known for a long time as a rare complication of amphetamine overdose, probably based on an individual 'idiosyncratic' sensitivity.
Hepatotoxicity is a new phenomenon in relation to amphetamine like substances, but psychoses are well known as usually temporary complications in people who are predisposed toward them.
It should be obvious that, however dramatic these complications may be at the individual level, they are very rare if they are related to the estimated scale of XTC use.
Operational Mechanism Of The Entactoqens
MDMA increases the secretion of serotonin in the synapses and inhibits the reuptake of serotonin.
MDA and amphetamine also have this effect, but MDMA and MDA inhibit the serotonin reuptake five times as much as amphetamine, and at least 20 times as much as DOM, a genuine hallucinogen.
MDA and MDMA are reasonably powerful as inhibitors on the noradrenaline reuptake, which is the main cause of the sympathomimetic effect of MDMA.
MDA inhibits the reuptake of dopamine. MDMA does so to a much lesser degree, and DOM does not do so at all. This too is proof that in this respect MDA and MDMA belong to a completely different category of substances from the genuine hallucinogens.
Books Ecstasy:
The Complete Guide:
A Comprehensive Look at the Risks and Benefits of MDMA
Written by an attending psychiatrist at New York's Bellevue Hospital and an authority on street drugs. The book provides reliable information to recreational users and the public.
After looking at MDMA's history, pharmacology, and legal status, the text discusses its potential clinical uses in the treatment of such psychiatric conditions as depression, schizophrenia, and post traumatic stress syndrome.
Other chapters look at MDMA-assisted psychotherapy, current international research, political issues, risks of recreational use and ways to minimize them are discussed.
Ecstasy: The Complete Guide...
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