256 MDMA
After recreational use became publicized, MDMA was made a Schedule I
controlled substance. Despite that ban, during the 1990s MDMA was popular
at high-energy all-night rave dance parties, not only for psychic actions but
for enabling people to go without sleep, food, and drink while physically
exerting themselves. A person using MDMA in that way will likely feel com-
plete exhaustion when the drug experience ends. The compound reduces pain
and promotes talkativeness, factors that might be appealing at raves.
The Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) tracks “mentions” of illicit
drugs in hospital emergency room cases. A “mention” means that examination
of a patient showed traces of a drug, not that the drug caused injury. DAWN
thereby helps track a drug’s popularity. In 1993 MDMA had 196 DAWN men-
tions; in 1998 the total was 143,600. As the twenty-first century began, the
DEA reported 750,000 doses being consumed each week in just the New Jersey
and New York City areas.
Drawbacks.Scientific literature portrays MDMA as a drug of extremes, pro-
ducing pleasures and afflictions that either enrapture or kill users. Compared
to many other drugs, much more is known about MDMA’s hazards simply
because so many persons have used it and received medical aid when things
went badly. The volume of medical emergencies, however, is more than just
a statistical phenomenon caused by sheer numbers of users. Some drugs used
even more widely do not generate nearly as many medical complaints.
MDMA really is more dangerous than many other substances.
One problem in evaluating MDMA dangers, a problem openly acknowl-
edged by some scientists, is the challenge of confirming that a sick person
indeed ingested MDMA a month ago rather than a fake substitute. All sorts
of substances can produce effects similar to those of MDMA, which is why
illicit dealers can so easily sell fake merchandise. Nonetheless, researchers in-
vestigating drug actions can often enough verify that MDMA is the actual
substance. The following information reflects the scientific consensus about
MDMA.
It has the physical and mental actions typical of amphetamine. A group of
persons who at one time or another used amphetamine,LSD, and MDMA
said they felt most pepped-up with amphetamine, least so with LSD, but had
the greatest euphoria and contentedness with MDMA. Another group com-
paring amphetamine and MDMA reported MDMA to have fewer drawbacks.
The DEA considers the drug less addictive thancocaineorheroin.
The substance degrades thinking processes. In tests of alertness, memory,
learning, and intelligence a group of marijuana users performed as well as
nonusers of marijuana, while a group that had used both marijuana and
MDMA did worse. MDMA causes persistent and even permanent organic
changes in the brain. Grand mal brain seizures have been attributed to the
substance. Brain damage observed in MDMA users is consistent and is related
to how much drug has been used (size of dose and frequency with which the
drug is taken). Psychological tests verify that persons with such damage have
trouble remembering things that are seen and heard, although the brain dam-
age has not been proven to cause the memory difficulty. Whatever the precise
cause, in memory tests polydrug users who have taken MDMA do worse than
those who have never taken the compound. Evidence exists that MDMA re-
