Club Drugs: Ecstasy
In developing prevention efforts that target young people, prevention managers
must design strategies to counter the increasing use and widespread
availability of the club drug Ecstasy. Known as “the party drug,” Ecstasy is
both a stimulant and a hallucinogen, and its effects are potentially
life-threatening.
Because it is inexpensive and easily accessible, Ecstasy is gaining in
popularity. As reported in the Monitoring the Future Study (National Institute
on Drug Abuse [NIDA] 1999), 3.6 percent of 12th graders, 3.3 percent of 10th
graders, and 1.8 percent of 8th graders said they had used the drug in 1998.
From 1991 through 1998, use by college students increased from 0.9 percent to
2.4 percent and by adults, from 0.8 percent to 2.1 percent (NIDA, Facts About
MDMA, 2000).
What Is Ecstasy?
Ecstasy is the street name for methylene-dioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), a
chemical substance that combines methamphetamines with hallucinogenic
properties. It is also known as X-TC, Adam, Clarity, and Lover’s Speed.
Like all club drugs, Ecstasy is a combination of other illicit drugs. Because
many different recipes are used to make Ecstasy, the risk of death and
permanent brain damage are heightened when some substances are combined. It is
available in tablet, capsule, or powder form; some manufacturers of the drug
package it in capsules or generic tablets to imitate prescription drugs. The
average cost is between $7 and $30 per pill.
Among the variations of the drug is a new substance, Herbal Ecstasy, that is
composed of ephedrine (ma huang) or pseudoephedrine and caffeine from the kola
nut. Sold in tablet form, this drug may cause permanent brain damage and death
(NIDA, Club Drugs: Just the Facts, 2000).
What Side Effects Are Produced by Ecstasy?
Ecstasy’s effects can last up to 24 hours. The drug produces immediate side
effects, and some—such as confusion, depression, sleep problems, anxiety, and
paranoia—can occur weeks after it is taken (NIDA, Community Drug Alert Bulletin
on Club Drugs, 2000).
Because Ecstasy alters serotonin levels in the brain, researchers have found
that chronic use can lead to long-term or permanent damage to those parts of
the brain critical to thought, memory, and pleasure (NIDA, Facts About MDMA,
2000).
Psychological Effects
Psychological effects are confusion, depression, sleep problems, severe anxiety
and paranoia, euphoria, enhanced mental and emotional clarity, hallucinations,
sensations of lightness and floating, depression, paranoid thinking, and
violent, irrational behavior.
Physical Effects
Physical effects are muscle tension, involuntary teeth clenching, nausea,
blurred vision, faintness, chills/sweating, dehydration, hypertension, loss of
control over voluntary body movements, tremors, reduced appetite, kidney
failure, heart attack, stroke, seizure, and malignant hyperthermia (increase in
body temperature).