Photo: Nick Cobbing

Nuggets Of Knowledge On Ecstasy

Squall 12, Spring 1996, pp. 20-24.

1. Many people argue that Ecstasy should be a name given solely to a chemical called MDMA. Increasingly, however, Ecstasy tablets may contain three possible chemicals: MDMA, MDA or MDEA. This family of compounds are mainly derived from the oils of natural substances such as nutmeg, sassafras, dill, calamus, crocus, parsley and saffron.

2. MDA was first synthesised in 1910 by two German chemists, although little interest was shown in its potential at the time. In the early 1940s US pharmaceutical manufacturer Smith, Kline and French dropped plans to market the drug as an appetite suppressant because of side-effects not related to their designs for its use. In 1968 MDA appeared on the streets of West Coast America as a recreational drug and within two years was controlled under US drug law.

3. MDMA appeared as a recreational drug in 1972, having been first synthesised in 1914. It was used by some therapists for its capacity to encourage empathy between users, particularly as an aid to the solution of marital problems. In 1977 MDMA was made a class A illegal substance under British Law, joining the ranks of drugs like heroin. Possession of the drug is thus liable to a penalty of up to seven years in prison and an unlimited fine. Dealing the drug is an offence with a possible penalty of life imprisonment and an unlimited fine.

4. The class A prohibition of Ecstasy has meant that its distribution is largely controlled by money-making gangsters. As a result the number of contaminants found in so-called Ecstasy tablets has been steadily increasing. These contaminants, used to ‘pad out the tablet’, have included Ketamine, Procaine and Ephedrine. In Holland, the Dutch government’s more socially aware drugs policy has allowed tablet-testers in clubs to test ravers’ Ecstasy tablets before ingestion. With the complete prohibition and official condemnation, this has not yet been possible in the UK.

5. A group of US psychotherapists made an attempt to have MDMA redefined as an ‘entactogen’, instead of an outlawed drug, because of its potential for inducing patients to “make contact” with their own and others’ feelings. MDMA is still used today by marital therapists in Switzerland.

7. The explosion in rave culture and its preferred recreational drug, MDMA, occurred in the UK at the end of the eighties. As a result of a government crackdown on MDMA, Ecstasy tablets began to contain more MDA. As the parent drug of MDMA, MDA is less time-consuming to produce. However, MDA has a higher neurotoxicity than MDMA and, according to users, is not as communally ecstatic.

8. Research on rats has shown that the intoxicating effects of Ecstasy are greater when a number of rats take the drug collectively, even though the individual doses were kept the same. The mechanism by which this empathatic process takes place is not known by scientists.

9. There was a decrease in football hooliganism on the terraces at the end of the eighties as Ecstasy made some inroads into the alcohol preference previously favoured by football fans.

10. Organisers of large public events at the end of the eighties say that Police tended to populate Rock festivals with heavy alcohol use far more than rave gatherings due to ecstacy’s reputation for relatively low violence levels.

11. Ecstasy acts on nerve cells in the body, stimulating the release of a natural body chemical called serotonin. This chemical is naturally associated with positivity, empathy and pleasant feelings. However, it is not known for certain that this is the sole mechanism by which Ecstasy induces euphoria.

12. It has been generally estimated that 54 people have died in circumstances related to the ingestion of Ecstasy since 1990. Despite the prevalence of its recreational use, no centralised monitoring of research and social analysis has been established. As a result, bits of information are held by various groups such as the Institute for the Study of Drug Dependency, Lifeline, National Poisons Unit as well as individual scientists and investigators. Some effort was made by Guys Hospital to keep abreast of developments associated with the drug but this was discontinued due to a lack of funding.

13. 54 deaths in 5 years is considered by scientists to be a low mortality-rate for any drug ingested on such a scale. Mortal allergic reactions occur in humans to a wide variety of ingestables from peanuts to paracetamol. These allergic reactions are called anaphylaxis, although their nature is not yet fully understood. The development of these sudden allergic reactions seems to depend on a combination of specific circumstances relating to the physiology of the person and their environment. A small minority of deaths from Ecstasy have been connected to such anaphylactic reactions, although once again this is much in dispute.

14. Unlike Europe, the United States has hardly any incidence of Ecstasy-related mortality. The connection between Ecstasy and mortality seems to be solely linked to its use as a dance culture drug. In the US, MDMA is used more as a personal recreational drug than in a collective dance context.

15. The majority of people who have died in Ecstasy-related circumstances have overheated and dehydrated (about 46 of the estimated 54 deaths). Ecstasy raises body temperature, and in combination with dancing in hot clubs and forgetting to drink, a lethal core temperature, or a lethal level of water deprivation may occur. A large number of commercial clubs were switching off cold water taps to maximise water sales at the bar, and packing dance floors to maximise door profits, with little thought for the physiological well-being of its customers. However, as these profiteering techniques began to be reported alongside the latest death from dehydration, commercial clubs eased up for the sake of their licenses. Due to the dehydration phenomenon, a general rule was circulated that people should make sure they drink enough water during their dancing session.

16. The Ecstasy tablet ingested by Leah Betts was, unusually for the mid nineties, found to contain 100 per cent MDMA. However, Leah actually died from drinking too much water. She had taken the tablet at her 18th birthday party held in her family home and was not dancing or sweating. When she began feeling nauseous, a not uncommon occurrence as the drug starts to have affect, she began drinking water, apparently under the illusion that drinking water would dissipate the effects of the Ecstasy. Whilst alcohol stimulates urination, Ecstasy temporarily inhibits it. If an Ecstasy user is not losing water through sweating, then it is not necessary to drink large amounts of water. Water is not an antidote to the chemical effects of Ecstasy. Helen Cousins collapsed into a coma one and a half months after Leah’s death. Apparently under the illusion that water would take away the effects of ecstasy, she had drunk seven litres. Fortunately she recovered.

17. Andreas Bouzis collapsed and later died after taking Ecstasy in a night-club in January 1996. It is thought that his congenital heart condition was the root cause of his death. As Ecstasy is a stimulant, it does raise blood pressure and excitement levels. Thus, as with any other stimulating experience including sex, people with heart problems should be careful.

18. Medical research on the drug Ecstasy has been thin on the ground in the UK as the majority of chemical research conducted in this country is done by pharmaceutical companies whose research concerns itself with substances of commercial interest. As a consequence, most research has come from the US. Experiments on monkeys published in America in 1988 did show an anatomical change in nerve cells carrying serotonin. However, these monkeys were injected with MDMA twice a day for two weeks. The researchers themselves pointed out that the significance for human recreational Ecstasy users is unclear.

19. Other scientific research has shown anatomical changes in nerve cells as a result of the ingestion of Ecstasy. The same is true of alcohol. Research has also suggested that large scale Ecstasy use leads to liver damage. The same is true of alcohol. The greatest reservations ex pressed by scientists over the use of Ecstasy, is that no one knows what its effects on humans actually are, especially over the long term. As such they view it as a dangerously uncontrolled social experiment.

20. Some doctors have noted what they call post-Ecstasy depression. Possible reasons for this phenomenon include the fact that the stimulation of serotonin by Ecstasy temporarily exhausts the body’s supply. As serotonin is a chemical associated with day-to-day feelings of positivity and happiness, there may be an ensuing period where the body and mind do not have enough left to naturally feel good; so producing a depressed period whilst the body’s own reservoirs of serotonin recover. Whether there is any long-term, irreplaceable loss of serotonin and, therefore, rise in depression is not known, as the drug has not been around long enough to determine long-term effects. Some studies, again on animals have shown that there may be a depletion of serotonin in the spinal fluid, the extent of which is dependant on the amount and regularity of use. Once again the implications of these studies for human users is unclear, although it can be said that taking several Ecstasy tablets on a night and doing it regularly might well lead to long-term depression and nerve cell dysfunction.

For their help in compiling these nuggets of available knowledge:
Thanks to - The Institute for the Study of Drug Dependency, a multitude of ravers, John Ramsey (Toxicologist - St George’s Hospital Tooting), Dr John Henry (Guys Hospital and National Poisons Unit) and Lifeline Manchester.