What to do if you or someone you’re with overdoses on ecstasy Taking too much ecstasy can lead to a potentially fatal overdose. It’s important to know that the effects of ecstasy will be different from person to person. When you take ecstasy, the drug affects a variety of brain chemicals called neurotransmitters.
- The name molly is short for molecular and refers to the powder or crystalline form of MDMA, which is typically sold in capsules.
- Its colorful appearance and reputation as a “fun” party drug often mask its serious risks.
- By inducing release and reuptake inhibition of serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine, MDMA increases levels of these neurotransmitters in the brain and periphery.
- Impairments in multiple aspects of cognition, including attention, learning, memory, visual processing, and sleep, have been found in regular MDMA users.
- An estimated 75,000 kids aged 12 to 17 reported using ecstasy in 2023.
MDMA is more likely to lead to a serious emergency, like an overdose, if it’s been cut with another drug. As is common with unregulated drugs, MDMA available for purchase is sometimes combined, or “cut,” with other drugs. The drugs methamphetamine and cathinone (bath salts) are also part of this group. However, some researchers are studying ways that MDMA might be useful as a treatment for certain mental health conditions. MDMA is classed as a Schedule 1 controlled substance and is illegal in the United States. MDMA is often called molly or ecstasy and is frequently taken in pill or capsule form.
Is MDMA Natural?
The combination of unregulated labs and unpredictable ingredients makes taking ecstasy extremely risky. Ecstasy is made in illegal laboratories, often hidden from law enforcement because making the drug is illegal in most countries. Even though parts of MDMA come from plants, the drug itself is not considered natural and can have very unnatural, and sometimes deadly, effects on the body. The drug is made in illegal labs without any safety regulations, meaning that harmful chemicals can get mixed in.
Ecstasy is a synthetic drug, meaning it’s made in a lab. You will begin to feel its effects within 30 to 45 minutes. How long does it take for ecstasy to kick in?
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While some people may see it as a party drug, the dangerous side effects and unknown ingredients make it life-threatening. These added stimulants can increase the drug’s effects but also put extra strain on the heart and body, leading to dangerous health issues like heart attack or stroke. Common substances used to lace ecstasy include caffeine, methamphetamine, amphetamines, and even cocaine. People who make and sell ecstasy often cut it with other substances to make the drug cheaper and more potent. When you buy ecstasy, you’re not just getting MDMA – the pill could contain a mixture of many drugs, some of which are much more dangerous than MDMA itself. People assume that molly is safer than ecstasy because it’s supposed to be just MDMA, without the extra harmful substances often found in ecstasy pills.
How Ecstasy (MDMA) Is Made and the Dangers of Street Drugs
This article is purely informational and not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. And Widdop, B, (eds.) (2004), Clarke’s analysis of drugs and poisons, 3rd edn, Vol. (eds.) (2004), Clarke’s analysis of drugs and poisons, 3rd edn, Vol. Street terms for MDMA include Adam and XTC, but often reflect the imprinted logo, e.g.
Getting involved in the future of medical MDMA
- Ecstasy should not be taken with other substances such as alcohol, cocaine, or marijuana, as doing so increases health risks.
- The stimulative effects of drugs such as Ecstasy enable the user to dance for long periods, and when combined with the hot, crowded conditions found at raves, can lead to extreme dehydration and heart or kidney failure.
- The highest one-year prevalence of MDMA use in Germany in 2012 was 1.7% among people aged 25 to 29 compared with a population average of 0.4%.
- In the late 1970s and early 1980s, «Adam» spread through personal networks of psychotherapists, psychiatrists, users of psychedelics, and yuppies.
This use was interrupted by ecstasy being classified as a Schedule I drug in 1985. MDMA was explored as a therapeutic drug in the 1970s as some psychotherapists believed it opened people up and enhanced their potential for empathy and understanding of one another. The symptoms may even persist for up to a week or more, especially if MDMA is mixed with other drugs such as marijuana.
MDMA (Ecstasy/Molly)
Most commercial amphetamine immunoassay screening tests cross-react significantly with MDMA or its major metabolites, but chromatographic techniques can easily distinguish and separately measure each of these substances. However, MDA shows much more potent and efficacious Ecstasy ingredients serotonin 5-HT2A, 5-HT2B, and 5-HT2C receptor agonism than MDMA. Like MDMA, it acts as a potent and well-balanced SNDRA and as a weak serotonin 5-HT2 receptor agonist. (R)-MDMA is more potent and efficacious as a serotonin 5-HT2A and 5-HT2B receptor agonist than (S)-MDMA, whereas (S)-MDMA is somewhat more potent as an agonist of the serotonin 5-HT2C receptor. In addition, both (S)-MDMA and (R)-MDMA are weak agonists of the serotonin 5-HT2 receptors.
Forms
The contributions of these metabolites to the psychoactive and toxic effects of MDMA are an area of active research. It is thought that brain serotonin levels are depleted after MDMA administration but that levels typically return to normal within 24 to 48 hours. Although MDMA and serotonin are not significant TAAR1 agonists in humans, TAAR1 activation by MDMA may result in SERT internalization, for instance in rodents in whom MDMA is a potent TAAR1 agonist.
MDMA
While there are no specific treatments for ecstasy addiction, the National Institute on Drug Abuse suggests that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is the most effective option. When ecstasy use is followed by vigorous physical activity, it can lead to a potentially dangerous rise in body temperature known as hyperthermia. Ecstasy overdose symptoms can include faintness, panic attacks or extreme anxiety, high blood pressure, and seizures. Another significant danger is the fact that people taking ecstasy don’t know what they are actually ingesting. Other effects include feeling greater empathy toward others and enhanced sensory perception.
THE TRUTH ABOUT DRUGS
Before and during your time on ecstasy, drink one 16-ounce bottle of water for every hour that passes while on the drug. If you do use it, it’s important to know how to reduce the risk of overdose and other serious consequences. If you communicate your problems about ecstasy and express the desire for help, you can avoid substance use disorders. Although there are no medications to help you stop using ecstasy, some people who have had issues with ecstasy have reported that behavioral therapy can help.
In animals, MDMA causes neurotoxicity, as evidenced by anatomical changes in axon structure and a persisting reduction in brain serotonin levels. Other chemical names include N,α-dimethyl-3,4-methylenedioxyphenethylamine or, less usually, N-methyl-1-(1,3-benzodioxol-5-yl)-2-propanamine. Information provided by NIDA is not a substitute for professional medical care or legal consultation. However, the FDA has designated MDMA a breakthrough therapy to expedite research for it as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. However, to be diagnosed with a substance use disorder, a person must meet specific diagnostic criteria for continued substance use despite negative consequences. Studies have also shown that animals will self-administer MDMA—an important indicator of a drug’s addictive potential.
MDMA is being investigated as a potential treatment for social impairments in autism. MDMA-assisted psychotherapy shows promising efficacy and a generally tolerable safety profile for treating PTSD, with meta-analyses indicating symptom reduction, though careful dosing and controlled therapeutic settings are essential to minimize risks. A number of ecstasy manufacturers brand their pills with a logo, often that of an unrelated corporation. In terms of purity data for Australian MDMA, the average is around 34%, ranging from less than 1% to about 85%. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime stated in its 2014 World Drug Report that US ecstasy retail prices range from US$1 to $70 per pill, or from $15,000 to $32,000 per kilogram. Among adolescent users in the United States between 1999 and 2008, girls were more likely to use MDMA than boys.
Contamination With Other Drugs
By inducing release and reuptake inhibition of serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine, MDMA increases levels of these neurotransmitters in the brain and periphery. To a lesser extent, MDMA also acts as a serotonin–norepinephrine–dopamine reuptake inhibitor (SNDRI). In contrast to the cases of serotonergic and noradrenergic agents, the dopamine D2 receptor antagonist haloperidol did not affect the cardiovascular responses to MDMA. The dual α1- and β-adrenergic receptor blocker carvedilol reduced MDMA-induced heart rate and blood pressure increases. The α1-adrenergic receptor antagonists doxazosin and prazosin blocked or reduced MDMA-induced blood pressure increases but augmented MDMA-induced heart rate and cardiac output increases. On the other hand, the robust NDRI methylphenidate, which has sympathomimetic effects of its own, has been found to augment the cardiovascular effects and increases in circulating norepinephrine and epinephrine levels induced by MDMA.
In 2023, an estimated 0.4% of eighth graders (13 years old) said they used ecstasy in the last year. An estimated 75,000 kids aged 12 to 17 reported using ecstasy in 2023. In 2023, more than 1.5 million adults in this age group used ecstasy compared with about 520,000 adults aged 18 to 25. The federal survey found that ecstasy was most popular among adults aged 26 and older.
People who attempt to make ecstasy without the proper knowledge or equipment put themselves at great risk. Because ecstasy is made in illegal labs, there are no safety standards or regulations in place, which increases the danger for everyone involved. The process of making ecstasy is extremely hazardous, not just for the people using it, but also for those producing it.