Ecstasy

Well, ecstasy has not always been this controversial a subject. A century ago it simply referred to a transcendent and desirable state of being that had nothing to do with the little pills that have become associated with pulsing, repetitive music and sweaty bodies moving in a trance-like state.

In fact even when ecstasy the pill was born, way back in 1913, it wasn't called ecstasy, but 3-4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine that was quickly and mercifully shortened to MDMA which is still its name to this day.

MDMA is called by many other names on the street, and all of them reflect the affectionate way that it's users feel toward it.

Rumor has it that it was first dubbed 'empathy' which was changed to the more catchy 'ecstasy'. The drug is also known as Adam, XTC, hug, beans and love drug.

The National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) classifies it differently: "a synthetic, psychoactive drug chemically similar to the stimulant methamphetamine and the hallucinogen mescaline". For this institution it is not so much a hug as it is potentially neurotoxic and "potentially dangerous to health".

So how did this particular stimulant -- this particular version of the age-old theme of getting high -- find its way onto the streets and into the large warehouse parties that have become known as raves. It was a convoluted path that began perfectly respectably at the turn of the century as a drug patented by the German company, Merck.

Imagine a medication for slimming that not only helped you lose weight but also filled you with an overpowering euphoria. It is rumored that this was MDMA's first incarnation. It was spotted in the military around the 1950's where folklore says it may have been adopted as some sort of truth drug.

The drug's uncanny ability to loosen the tongues of people who took it was later to become an important therapeutic tool in the 1970's. Used by experimental psychotherapists who were prepared to run sessions longer than the regular 50 minute slots -- giving the drug time to take effect -- were reputed to give the equivalent of five months of therapy in the space of that many hours.

But, we jump ahead. First there was a daring biochemist who developed such a superior insecticide that he was given his own laboratory and carte blanche to do with it what he wanted. What he chose to do was later to cause his summary dismissal. His field of study was psychedelic drugs and his approach was similar to that of a botanist.

Alexander Shulgin is called the stepfather of MDMA presumably because he adopted it at a later stage. In his book, "Phenethylamines I Have Known and Loved" Ecstasy is one of 179 psychoactive drugs that his long and controversial career brought him in direct contact with. He was the one who won over some members of the field of psychotherapy.

Despite all this experimentation the 'golden age' of MDMA passed unchallenged by the authorities under a different name, Adam. The name ecstasy became popular in the mid 1980's as students across America began to use the drug recreationally. At that point it was still legal and available over the counter at bars. Ironically the free accessibility ultimately spelt its downfall as the authorities began to clamp down. Media attention coupled with a growing awareness of potentially fatal impurities in some designer drugs created a scare that ended with the DEA declaring MDMA a schedule 1 drug.

So what does this drug do that makes it so popular and so controversial? Ecstasy travels to the brain where it acts upon the neurons that effect the production and activities of serotonin, that precious neurotransmitter that is responsible for much of our potential for joy and euphoria.

When we take ecstasy it messes with this complex and subtle mood machine that master manages not only how we feel, but also our sexual activity, sleep and sensitivity to pain. Though addictions to the drug are not as much of a problem as they can be with other drugs there are certain cognitive, physical and psychological effects associated with chronic usage.

Like any chemical stimulant, the intensity of the high is directly related to the severity of the exhaustion and hangover that follows. Because the surge of energy experienced under its influence is manufactured and not natural, exertion fails to be monitored in ways that maintain the body's delicate equilibrium. The body and mind that last night felt able to fly can now barely move.

And yet another sobering thought regarding this drug that gives so generously and then takes away even more, is the possibility of neurotoxicity that has been observed when animals are exposed to MDMA. A study has shown that exposure to MDMA for only four days caused damage to serotonin nerve terminals that were still evident six to seven years later.