Page 18 - Demo

An article in Rolling Stone reports that after a steep decline, ecstasy use is back, along with the dance music it is often associated with. Instead of the old-fashioned pills, it is now found in a powdered form called molly.
Ecstasy is usually sold as tablets, but sometimes as powder or capsules. Users feel the effects within 30 minutes and the effects may
last for 4-6 hours. Side effects can include dilated pupils, blurred vision, dry mouth, nervousness and muscular tension.
Many buy molly thinking it is purer than tablets, which are notorious for being laced with meth or other impurities. The name molly is even supposed to mean pure “molecules” of MDMA. But the truth is that powder can be very easily cut with impurities by dealers. Ecstasy called by any name, such as molly, should be considered just as unpredictable and dangerous.
Ecstasy produces rapid tolerance so repeat users must increase the dosage. At high doses ecstasy can elevate body temperature to the point of kidney failure. It can raise heartbeat and blood pressure to dangerous levels. Users with undiagnosed heart defects are especially at risk. Some have died after one use. Ecstasy use has also been linked to lasting nerve damage in the brain that affects both memory and mood.
It started with MDA, a drug that chemists synthesized in 1910. Researchers studied it as a possible treatment for diseases such as depression and Parkinson’s. MDA is chemically related to both amphetamines (speed) and the hallucinogen mescaline. At high enough doses it produces both a high as well as hallucinogenic effects similar to (yet less intense than) LSD. Given its availability as a research chemical, people began abusing MDA in the 1960’s. It gained nicknames such as the “love drug” and the “Mellow Drug of America.”
History
Taking ecstasy with alcohol or other drugs takes the side effects more unpredictable and dangerous. Combining it with strenuous dancing in hot, poorly ventilated clubs further increases the dange.
Authorities responded by outlawing MDA,
but then interest developed in its chemical
cousin MDMA. Abuse of MDMA spread slowly in the 1970’s, then exploded in the 1980’s as a part of the dance club scene. Users apparently liked the psychedelic effect combined with an energetic high that let them dance for long periods. In 1985, authorities responded by outlawing MDMA.
or Chicken Powder), which has caused adverse reactions in some users up to and including death.
Effects
More ecstasy is appearing on the street
in a powder form that resembles cocaine. An increasing number of users are appearing in emergency rooms having overdosed on MDMA that they thought was cocaine. The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy notes an increasing occurrence of ecstasy laced with methamphetamine. Sometimes drugs sold as ecstasy contain no MDMA at all, but are instead chemically similar drugs such as PMA, Dr. Death
New Dangers!
17 • L.A.W. Publications