3,4-methylenedioxy-
methamphetamine (MDMA or Ecstasy)

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What Is It?

Ecstasy is a slang term for an illegal drug that has effects similar to those of hallucinogens and stimulants. Ecstasy's scientific name is MDMA, short for 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, a name that's nearly as long as the all-night dance club raves or trance parties where ecstasy is often used.

MDMA is synthetic-it doesn't come from a plant. MDMA users often make the drug in secret labs-in trailers, basements, and even kitchens-hidden around the country. Other chemicals or substances are often added to, or substituted for, MDMA in ecstasy tablets, such as caffeine, dextromethorphan (in some cough syrups), amphetamines, or cocaine. Makers of ecstasy can add anything they want to the drug. So the purity of ecstasy is always in question. [1]

How Is It Used?

MDMA is usually taken by mouth in a pill, tablet, or capsule. These pills can be different colours, and sometimes the pills have cartoon-like images on them. [1][2][3]

Is MDMA Addictive?

Like other stimulant drugs, MDMA appears to have the ability to cause addiction. That is, people continue to take the drug despite experiencing unpleasant physical side effects and other social, behavioural, and health consequences.

No one knows how many times a person can use a drug before becoming addicted or who's most vulnerable to addiction. Genetic makeup, living environment, and other factors probably play a role in a person's susceptibility to addiction.

What Are the Common Effects?

In general, research from NIDA shows that abuse of any club drugs can cause serious health problems and, in rare instances, even death. Many drug abusers take combinations of drugs, including alcohol, which may further increase their danger.

For most abusers, a "hit" of ecstasy lasts for 3 to 6 hours. Once the pill is swallowed, it takes only about 15 minutes for MDMA to enter the bloodstream and reach the brain. About 45 minutes later, a user experiences MDMA's peak level (high). It's downhill from there, unless the user "bumps" and takes more MDMA. But even if a person takes only one pill, the side effects of MDMA-including feelings of sadness, anxiety, depression, and memory difficulties-can last for several days to a week (or longer in regular MDMA users). [1][2][3]

Initial Effects

MDMA abusers might feel very alert or "hyper" at first. At raves, they can keep on dancing for hours at a time. They may also experience distortions in time and other changes in perception, such as an enhanced sense of touch. Some, however, can become anxious and agitated. Sweating or chills may occur, and MDMA abusers may feel faint or dizzy. [3]

MDMA abusers can also become dehydrated through vigorous activity in a hot environment. MDMA can interfere with the body's ability to regulate its temperature, which can cause dangerous overheating (hyperthermia.) This, in turn, can lead to serious heart, kidney, or liver problems-or, rarely, death. MDMA can be extremely dangerous in high doses, or when multiple small doses are taken within a short time period to maintain the high. Blood levels of the drug can reach very high levels, increasing the risk of hyperthermia and other health risks of MDMA. [2]

Other Effects On the Body

MDMA can also cause muscle tension, clenching of teeth, nausea, blurred vision, fainting, and chills or sweating. It increases heart rate and blood pressure.

Effects On the Mind

MDMA can cause confusion, depression, sleep problems, intense fear, and anxiety. In regular abusers, some of these side effects can last for days or weeks after taking MDMA.

Dangers

MDMA can be dangerous in high doses. It can cause a noticeable increase in body temperature (hyperthermia), which also has been associated with dehydration. Hyperthermia can lead to cardiovascular problems, seizures, liver failure, and muscle breakdown that can cause kidney failure. These have been reported in some fatal cases at raves. [1]

MDMA has been shown to be neurotoxic (damage nerve tissue) in studies using animals. It's not yet known whether this drug is neurotoxic in humans. However, regular users of MDMA have demonstrated memory loss, and this may reflect damage to the neurons that release serotonin, which affects the ability to sleep and helps to regulate mood.

Long-term Effects

Although it is not yet known whether MDMA causes long-term brain damage in humans, or whether the effects are reversible when someone stops using the drug, a study of non-human primates showed that exposure to high doses of MDMA for 4 days produced brain damage that was evident 6 to 7 years later. The study researchers found that some of the damaged nerve fibres grew back, but not necessarily in the same parts of the brain. It's like cutting off a branch of a fruit tree: The tree is still alive and can sprout a new limb somewhere else, but it may not bear as much fruit as the old one.

Risks to the Brain

Brain imaging research in humans indicates that MDMA may affect neurons that use serotonin to communicate with other neurons. The serotonin system plays a direct role in regulating mood, aggression, sexual activity, sleep, and sensitivity to pain. [5, 6]

References

1. National Institute on Drug Abuse. NIDA Community Drug Alert Bulletin-Club Drugs . Bethesda, MD: NIDA, NIH, DHHS. Retrieved March 2006.
2. National Institute on Drug Abuse. NIDA InfoFacts: MDMA (Ecstasy) : Bethesda, MD: NIDA, NIH, DHHS. Retrieved March 2006.
3. National Institute on Drug Abuse. NIDA InfoFacts: Club Drugs : Bethesda, MD: NIDA, NIH, DHHS. Retrieved March 2006.
4. National Institute on Drug Abuse. NIDA InfoFacts: High School and Youth Trends : Bethesda, MD: NIDA, NIH, DHHS. Retrieved March 2006.
5. National Institute on Drug Abuse. MDMA/Ecstasy Research: Advances, Challenges, Future Directions A Scientific Conference : Bethesda, MD: NIDA, NIH, DHHS. Retrieved March 2006.
6. Scholastic and National Institute on Drug Abuse. Heads Up: Real News About Drugs and Your Body: Retrieved June 2003.