KEITH ENRIQUEZ/Daily Bruin Senior Staff MDMA, a designer
drug known as ecstasy which is commonly used at raves and night
clubs, is currently the subject of research to determine its
permanent effects on the brain.
By William D. Braxdale
Daily Bruin Contributor
The club drug MDMA, more commonly known as ecstasy, is creating
controversy because some researchers are at odds regarding the
potential dangers to users’ health.
The drug is being examined for its potential therapeutic uses,
but continues to remain most popular as a fixture, as well as a
curse, in the rave community.
“The increasing use of synthetic drugs and club drugs such
as MDMA by our young people is quickly becoming one of the most
significant law enforcement and social issues facing our country
today,” said Drug Enforcement Administration spokesperson
Rojene Waite.
According to the DEA, ecstasy may cause feelings of confusion,
depression, anxiety, paranoia, sleep problems, dehydration,
hypothermia, heart failure, kidney failure, blurred vision and
involuntary teeth-clenching.
MDMA is a drug that has the chemical properties of both
amphetamines and hallucinogens. It causes the release of large
amounts of serotonin into the brain, which gives the user an
enhanced sense of touch and increased self-confidence, energy and
empathy.
According to Dr. Charles S. Grob, director of the division of
child and adolescent psychiatry at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, one
of the biggest problems with the drug is that people who believe
they are taking ecstasy are not actually taking MDMA.
“Half of ecstasy turns out to be something else,
“Grob said.
He added that these other drugs can be anything from
methamphetamine to PCP, also known as angel dust.
Officials at DanceSafe, an organization that attempts to promote
safety in the rave community by testing the purity of MDMA pills,
agreed with the problem.
“Fake adulterated ecstasy is one of the greatest risks to
MDMA users,” said Emanuel Sferios, director of DanceSafe.
Additionally, Grob expressed concern with the way the drug is
being used by the rave culture.
“MDMA can be dangerous, very dangerous. Especially when
used unwisely, at high doses, mixed with other drugs or alcohol and
in a setting where there is vigorous exercise, lack of attention to
fluid replacement and high ambient temperature,” Grob
said.
For those using MDMA, DanceSafe recommends drinking about a pint
of water every hour, eating something salty or drinking juice or
sports drinks, as well as taking breaks from dancing and wearing
loose-fitting clothes.
The DEA invoked the Emergency Scheduling Act in 1985 in response
to the prolific use of the drug.
Hearings were held in several cities, and according to Grob, the
judge presiding over the hearings recommended schedule III status
for MDMA.
But the DEA director at the time overruled the recommendation
and classified MDMA as a schedule I drug ““ the strictest
level, which excludes the drug from being used for medicinal
purposes in the United States.
One of the biggest questions currently surrounding ecstasy is
whether it causes damage to the brain.
Much of the current research indicates MDMA’s toxicity may
cause significant damage to portions of the brain.
But Grob challenges this research in an article that will be
published in the journal Addiction Research.
“A lot of neurotoxicity research has serious flaws in the
methodology and the interpretation of data,” Grob said.
“Many of the research studies you hear so much about in the
media these days are retrospective studies of polydrug abusers who
also happen to have taken a lot of MDMA.”
At Harbor-UCLA, Grob was the principal investigator in the first
study approved by the FDA since its placement as a schedule I drug,
alongside drugs like cocaine and heroin.
That study was funded by the Multidisciplinary Association for
Psychedelic Studies, an organization that designs, funds, and
reports on research into the potential healing uses of psychedelic
drugs.
Grob is currently proposing a study sponsored by MAPS that will
test the effectiveness of MDMA in alleviating pain and stress in
cancer patients who are not responding to conventional medical
treatment.
MAPS is also sponsoring a study in Spain that will use MDMA to
treat rape victims who suffer from post-traumatic stress
disorder.
Rick Doblin, the founder and director of MAPS, said getting FDA
approval for MDMA research between 1985 and 1990 was nearly
impossible.
He added that large pharmaceutical companies “have done
nothing to investigate the therapeutic use of MDMA or other
psychedelics, and that their financial interests might suffer if
psychedelics were to be approved as prescription
medicines.”
“The reason is that psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy may
prove to be an alternative treatment for depression and other
indications for which the pharmaceutical industry offers pills that
must be taken on a daily basis for extended periods of time,”
he said.