Fact v. Fiction

The agony over ecstasy

Publication Title: The Globe and Mail
Date Published: October 9, 1993 
Author: Charlotte Parsons)

The drug known to ravers as ecstasy has a history that is long and rife with misconceptions. Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) was patented 81 years agoin Germany by the Merck Pharmaceutical Co., and more or less forgotten until1976, when a research paper was published on its psychoactive effect on humans.

MDMA has been described as a psychedelic drug but Bruce Eisner, the U.S. author of Ecstasy, the MDMA Story, calls it an empathogen. This means that itheightens a user's appreciation of others without causing the perceptual distortions associated with a true hallucinogen. "People on MDMA are open, loving and alert," he says. "They don't generally, with normal doses, have hallucinations or confusion. The change is more an internal change."

However, the rumour mill has accused ecstasy of a variety of negative side effects. It has been dubbed a "wheelchair" drug for supposedly sapping the body of spinal fluid. According to another story, it can cause symptoms similar to those of Parkinson's disease. Mr. Eisner, a San Francisco writer with a master's degree in psychology, says he has found no evidence to support such claims. He says there are several shortterm side effects, but they are far less dangerous, they include a wiggling of the eyes, loss of appetite and, occasionally, jaw clenching. A user also may experience sleeplessness or fatigue until the drug wears off. "This is typical of what happens" when a drug is made illegal", he says. "Availabiiity drops, prices go up and rumours abound.

He says the link to Parkinson's may have stemmed from someone who confused MDMA with a synthetic heroin that can cause a false form of the disease when made incorrectly. But the rumoured draining of spinal fluid is groundless. In all, about 20 people have died after taking MDMA. Mr. Eisner says the victims can be divided roughly into two groups: those who had heart problems and those who fell prey to "rave dehydration syndrome."

Several British ravers died after organizers shut off the flow of drinking water to the site in an attempt to boost beverage sales. Prices for ecstasy skyrocketed after it became popular on the rave scene and after the United States made it illegal in 1985. A single dose once cost less than $10 but now fetches about $45.

The high demand and dwindling supply of MDMA's ingredients have prompted basement chemists to produce bastardized versions of the drug. Amphetamine-laced pills and powders have appeared on the rave scene masquerading as ecstasy. "It's a real crapshoot whether people are going to get the real stuff or not."

Mr. Eisner says. He blames the ban, arguing that with alcohol and cigarettes killing millions, it makes little sense to blacklist MDMA.