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Ecstasy
What are the street names/slang terms for it?
Adam, Bean, E, Ecstasy, M, Roll, X, XTC
What is it?
MDMA or Ecstasy (3-4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine), is a synthetic drug with amphetamine-like and hallucinogenic properties.
What does it look like?
Ecstasy come in a tablet form that is often branded, e.g. Playboy bunnies, Nike swoosh, CK
How is it used?
Taken in pill form, users sometimes take Ecstasy at "raves," clubs, and other parties to keep on dancing and for mood enhancement.
What are its short-term effects?
Short-term effects can include involuntary teeth clenching, a loss of inhibitions, unusual displays of affection, transfixion on sights and sounds, muscle tension, nausea, blurred vision, and chills or sweating. After-effects can include sleep problems, anxiety and depression.
Ecstasy can cause severe dehydration, seizures and strokes. It can cause dramatic increases in body temperature and can lead to muscle breakdown, which can cause kidney failure. It can lead to liver and cardiovascular failure, which have been reported in some of the Ecstasy-related fatalities.
What are its long-term effects?
Repeated use of Ecstasy ultimately may damage the cells that produce serotonin, which has an important role in the regulation of mood, appetite, pain, learning and memory. There already is research suggesting Ecstasy use can disrupt or interfere with memory.
What is its federal classification?
MDMA is a Schedule I drug
More Facts...
Psychological difficulties due to ecstasy include confusion, depression, sleep problems, drug craving, severe anxiety, and paranoia - during and sometimes weeks after taking MDMA.
Emergency room data indicate that MDMA is increasingly used by marijuana users, with reports of MDMA in combination with marijuana increasing from 8 in 1990 to 796 in 1999.
Researchers at The Johns Hopkins University demonstrated that 4 days of exposure to the drug caused damage that persisted 6 to 7 years later.
Source:
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA); Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)
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