Life And Ecstasy

Ecstasy, betterknown in the scientific world as MDMA (methylenedioxymethamphetamine), has had many different effects on society not only in America but across the globe. This paper will explore the different ins and outs of the drug that in the 1960's was dubbed the "love drug."

Even though ecstasy didn't become popular until the 60's and 70's it was created sometime before 1912. German pharmaceutical giant Merck first stumbled across MDMA as an intermediate step in the attempt to create hydrastinin, a drug being developed to stop bleeding. On Dec. 24th 1912, Merck filled to patent hydrastinin and included MDMA in the application an intermediate chemical with no mention of use. There is no significant mention of the use of ecstasy or MDMA between the years of 1914 when the patent was received and 1953 when it was tested by the Army Chemical Center at the University of Michigan as an instrument of brainwashing but that information had not been declassified until 1969. The drug was called code-name EA-1475 and was only tested on animals.

The first human study was done on in 1978 by phycotherapist Dr. Sasha Sulgen and chemist Dave Nichols. A description given of the feeling it gives you is a sensual euphoria and the love affect. The drug was spread underground from the late 70's to the early 80's to other phycotherapist as a therapeutic work agent. The drug was kept quiet for fear that the drug would be outlawed shortly after it was introduce to mainstream science the way LSD was. MDMA remained under wraps until June 1984 when an article was published in the San Francisco Chronicles. In the article the therapist nick-named the drug Adam signifying "the condition of primal innocence and unity with all life," described in the Bibles account of the garden of eden. In the early 1980's recreational use grew rapidly and the drug had been given the name it is most popularly known as, Ecstasy.

At this time entrepreneurs began producing and distributing ecstasy through out the united states. Some would say they were trying to get as much money as possible before the drug was outlawed. Since it was not yet made illegal people were able to purchase the drug over the phone using a credit card. Users were also able to buy the drug at select nightclubs in Dallas and fort woth, texas which brought the drug to the attention to texas democratic senator Lloyd Bentson who urged the drug enforcement agency to outlaw the drug. Since then it has continued to grow as a recreational drug mostly utilized in todays growng dance cultures.

Even though the United Kingdom named MDMA as illegal and added it to the 1971 Misuse of Drugs Act the DEA didn't puplish their intention to declare MDMA as a Schedule 1 drug until July 27, 1984. A schedule 1 drug is prohibited for every application, has no recognized medical use, and cannot be prescribed by a physician. In response a large group of psychiatrists, psychotherapists, and researchers along with their lawyer filed to appeal the act with-in the 30-day time period with the administrator of the DEA Francis Mullen. The DEA granted the request and schedualed a hearing in Washington D.C., Kansas City, and Los Angeles. On May 31, 1985 the DEA announced that it would not wait for the end of the hearing to make a descision, while waiting for the final out come it was discovered that mdma had been abused in 28 states. When the DEA got wind of this they put an emergency ban on the drug MDMA reason being because the drug had taken advantage of a law passed in 1984 that allowed the drug to be schedualed for one year without hearings if there is enough concern for public safety. This is the only drug that has been scheduled in this way.

The ban was made effective july 1, 1985, only as an emergency action only to slow down the use of the drug until a longer more administrative process could be completed. Part of which included the criminalization of MDMA. On February 11, 1986 Ecstasy was placed on the federal register as a Shcedule 1 drug internationally by the World Health Organization. But by 1986 this popular drug had already spread to other countries such as Spain and grew just as popular if not more like in austrailia.

Ecstasy has many different effects on the mind and body. No evidence show reasonable dosages to cause irreversible brain damage but like all potent medications it has its recommended dosage levels and toxic dosage levels. Animal tests involving repeated high dosages show otherwise. The tests show that when given single oral dosages at 2.5 mg/kg body weight there was no brain damage but a single oral dosage at 5mg/kg did cause some axonal damage in baboons, the equivalent in humans much larger than a therapeutic dose give for psychotherapy. For years it has been rumored that ecstasy can cause holes in your brain. This isn't true but isn't unreasonable to think so. This idea come from when given a SPECT Scan (single positron emission computed tomography) after heavy use a temporary low blood flow, which appears as dark blank spaces in the scan.

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