The Truth About Ecstasy

Imagine it. A sudden welling up of pure joy. That sense of deep peace and relaxation you get after days of vacation. Everything looks crisp, clear, new. You have an overwhelming sense of awe at simply being alive. Communication is effortless. You can't not tell the truth in your heart. You have that feeling of being innocent and vulnerable, like you were as a bright-eyed child. A feeling of ease. A willingness to accept all the love that is around you. A willingness to express all the love you feel without any defenses or egotistic hesitations. A sense of purpose and sacredness in everything. It's like the best moment of your life. Ecstasy.

One way to achieve this state is with a $20 pill. Or so say the pill's proponents. The drug is appropriately named Ecstasy. Also known as E, X, and Adam, this semi-synthetic drug's proper name is MDMA (methylenedioxy-n-methyl amphetamine). It has a chemical structure similar to molecules found in nutmeg, mace, crocus and dill, as well as over-the-counter Sudafed. It is similar to an amphetamine, but has a "paradoxical effect." That is, it inspires a feeling of peace and calm rather than excitation.

MDMA was first synthesized by the Germans in 1914 and patented by the Merck Pharmaceutical Company. It was largely forgotten for the next four decades. In the 1950s, the Army Chemical Center began to test it on animals to examine its toxicity. Another 20 years passed and in 1976, the first report of the psychoactive effects of MDMA in humans was published. People, including many psychotherapists, experimented with this "new" drug, and some research studies on its therapeutic benefits were begun. Dr. Ralph Metzner coined the name "empathogen" (meaning empathy-generating) to describe the effect of MDMA. He had used it in his practice of family therapy and couples counseling. With a simple signature, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) criminalized the use, possession, and manufacture of MDMA on July 1, 1985, placing it in the category of Schedule I, the most regulated class of substances for drugs that have a "high potential for abuse and no medical use." (Even cocaine is in Schedule II, due to its use as an anesthetic.) On that day, the dissemination of this empathogen moved from the hands of licensed professionals to potential felons.

Even though the DEA's own judge had ruled to classify MDMA in Schedule III so that research into its therapeutic value could continue, the administration ignored his 90-page decision and volumes of testimony by experts. Many are wondering why. As Peter Stafford eloquently states in the introduction to Ecstasy: The MDMA Story, "Driving this marvelous tool to underground usage guarantees an increasingly perverse edge to the delicate but robust potentials it once had." It also has cultivated a market for badly fashioned look-alike drugs, with much more potentially serious side effects.

Whether authentic or imitation, the use of what people think is Ecstasy is on the rise. According to Salon magazine, in the first eight months of 1999, U.S. Customs seized more than one million doses. Compare this to the previous year when only 375,000 pills were confiscated. Dean Boyd of U.S. Customs quipped, "What Colombia is for cocaine, the Netherlands is for Ecstasy."

Don Mendrala, head of the Utah DEA, says Ecstasy use is on the rise in Utah as well. Although there seems to be a prevalent attitude that MDMA is a harmless, casual drug, he says, the DEA does not view it that way. They pursue MDMA as aggressively as they do any other Schedule 1 substance. They are currently working on a few cases.

But is it truly a $20 magic bullet to bliss? Why not try it?

Due to its classification in Schedule I, it is nearly impossible for scientists to obtain permission to do research on human subjects to determine its toxicity. Some studies have been done on animals in recent years, but experts disagree on how to interpret the results. Some say using MDMA even a few times can cause permanent damage to the human central nervous system. Some say it can lead to memory loss and, ironically, depression.