ECSTASY (MDMA)

MDMA (3-4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine) is a synthetic, psychoactive drug with a chemical structure similar to the stimulant methamphetamine and the hallucinogen mescaline. MDMA has both stimulant and psychedelic properties.

MDMA was first synthesized by a German company in 1912, possibly to be used as an appetite suppressant. MDMA has been available as a street drug since the 1980s. Its use has escalated in the 1990s among college students and young adults and is most often distributed at late-night parties called "raves", nightclubs, and rock concerts. As the rave and club scene expands to metropolitan and suburban areas across the country, MDMA use and distribution are increasing as well. MDMA is frequently used in combination with other drugs. However, it is rarely consumed with alcohol, as alcohol is believed to diminish its effects.
Street names for MDMA include Ecstasy, E, Adam, XTC, Clarity, Essence, Hug Drug, and Love Drug.

Effects of Use

MDMA stimulates the release of the neurotransmitter serotonin from brain neurons, producing a high that lasts from several minutes to an hour. The drug’s rewarding effects vary with the individual taking it, the dose and purity, and the environment in which it is taken. MDMA can produce stimulant effects such as an enhanced sense of pleasure and self-confidence and increased energy. Its psychedelic effects include feelings of peacefulness, acceptance, and empathy.

Health Hazards

MDMA users may encounter problems similar to those experienced by amphetamine and cocaine users, including addiction.
MDMA damages brain serotonin neurons. Serotonin is thought to play a role in regulating mood, memory, sleep, and appetite. Recent research indicates heavy MDMA use causes persistent memory problems in humans.
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.
Also, there is evidence that people who develop a rash that looks like acne after using MDMA may be risking severe side effects, including liver damage, if they continue to use the drug.
MDMA-related fatalities at raves have been reported. The stimulant effects of the drug, which enable the user to dance for extended periods, combined with the hot, crowded conditions usually found at raves can lead to dehydration, hyperthermia, and heart or kidney failure.

Methods of Use

MDMA is most often available in tablet form and is usually ingested orally. Ecstasy traffickers consistently use brand names and logos as marketing tools and to distinguish their product from that of competitors. The logos are produced to coincide with holidays or special events. Among the more popular logos are butterflies, lightning bolts, and four-leaf clovers. It is also available as a powder and is sometimes snorted and occasionally smoked but rarely injected.

Extent of Use

The NIDA-funded Monitoring the Future survey (MTF), which is conducted by the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research found that in 1998, 3.6 percent of 12th-graders, 3.3 percent of 10th-graders, and 1.8 percent of 8th-graders reported they had used MDMA in the past year. In 2000, 8.2 percent of 12th-graders, 5.4 percent of 10th-graders and 3.1 percent of 8th-graders reported they had used MDMA. African American students showed considerably lower rates of Ecstasy use than white or Hispanic students in the 2000 MTF.
The NIDA-sponsored Community Epidemiology Work Group (CEWG), a network of researchers from 21 major U.S. metropolitan areas, also has reported increased MDMA use by young adults and adolescents in many areas of the country in recent years. MDMA, once used primarily at dance clubs, raves, and college scenes, is now being used in a number of other social settings. It is the most prominent stimulant used in Chicago; it is sold in many singles bars in Denver; it is used by a wide variety of age groups and in a number of recreational settings in Atlanta; it has become the drug of choice among white middle class young adults in Washington, D.C. In Miami in 1999, there were eight MDMA-related deaths, and five in Minneapolis/St. Paul. In Boston during the first three quarters of 2000, MDMA was the most frequently mentioned drug in telephone calls to the Poison Control Center. Ecstasy content varies widely, and it frequently consists of substances entirely different from MDMA, ranging from caffeine to dextromethorphan. Ecstasy tablets seized by the Drug Enforcement Administration increased from 13,342 in 1996 to 949,257 in 2000.

Each year, National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA) reports on the nature and extent of drug use among the American household population age 12 and older. The 1998 survey is the latest for data relating to MDMA use. It found that an estimated 1.5 percent (3.4 million) of Americans had used MDMA at least once during their lifetime. The heaviest use (5 percent or 1.4 million people) was reported for those between 18 and 25 years of age.

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