The drug is popular because of high demand. Imported from Belgium and the Netherlands, the drug offers a lucrative market to distributors. It manufacturers for about .50 cents and sells to wholesale distributors for around $6-$8 per pill, fetching anywhere from $20-$30 at street value for users (Romano 2002, 31). The drug is highly popular with ravers, for its initial rush of energy followed by three hours or more of a prolonged state of euphoria. In Prescription: Euphoria, Spartos (2002) quotes the director of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies as saying in reference to the drug, ôThink of MDMA as Prozac plusö (56). The drug is thought to produce such euphoria in the user through its impact on brain neurons that use serotonin. Serotonin is important for maintaining mood, regulating aggression, sexual desire, sleep, and pain sensitivity. MDMA (Ecstasy). (Apr 2004). National Institute on Drug Abuse. Viewed on Apr 27, 2004: http://www.nida.nih.gov/Infofax/ ecstasy.html, 1- Elevated heart rate Increased sense of well-being Despite the dangerous affects of ecstasy, it has recently witnessed a comeback in popularity among physicians and psychiatrists. In November, based on protests from these professions about its therapeutic benefits, the FDA approved the first study ever devoted to the medicinal benefits of MDMA (Spartos 2002). Many users experience greater personal insight, and a sense of euphoria, empathy, peace, and caring while under the drugÆs impact. As one therapist argues, ôThe drug could help patients accomplish in a couple of sessions what would otherwise take yearsö (Spartos 2002, 56). EcstasyÆs unique affects on the brain and body were used therapeutically, before the drug was criminalized in 1985. It is doubtful in light of current drug attitudes and legislation that MDMA will receive medical approval any time in the near future. Saunders, N. (1993). E is for Ecstasy, (Chapter Four). London: Nicholas Sau |
