From: copley-devon@cs.yale.edu (Devon Copley)
Newsgroups: alt.drugs,talk.politics.drugs
Subject: Re: MDMA and self-esteem
Date: 14 Dec 1992 20:47:56 -0500
Organization: Yale University Computer Science Dept., New Haven, CT 06520-2158
NNTP-Posting-Host: chameleon.zoo2.cs.yale.edu

In what is otherwise a very intelligently written article,
lamontg@stein.u.washington.edu (Lamont Granquist) writes:

>MDMA, aka Ecstasy, X, XTC, E, Adam, etc, etc...
>Side effects and other crap:
>----------------------------
>
>     MDMA doesn't cause parkinson's disease -- MPTP which an entirely
>     different drug (an opiate) does.  MDMA doesn't dry up your
>     spinal fluid -- thats a completely stupid and silly concept to
>     begin with.  The way that researcher's have been *testing* for
>     MDMA damage is to draw a spinal tap.  What they are looking for
>     is lower levels of 5-HIAA which might indicate damage to 
>     5-HT neurons.  In short they haven't found anything convincing
>     in humans.  In animals it takes large doses over consecutive
>     days to produce neurotoxicity (bursting of 5-HT axons, which
>     is reparable).  With smaller doses with longer time periods
>     in between, there is no evidence of neurotoxicity. 

....[stuff deleted]

>     MDMA is a damn safe drug, certainly more safe than alcohol.  The
>     only problems would be due to its exaggerating existing heart
>     conditions.  And also, as recently happened in England, the
>     stimulant qualities could make a person overextert themselves
>     without knowing it (however, thats really quite rare -- 7 cases
>     is nothing compared with the wreckage due to alcohol).

Unfortunately (and believe me, I find it unfortunate), the above is not
QUITE accurate...and MDMA is *definately not* a "damn safe drug." 
Sure, it won't kill you.  That's the good news.  But the research that
is available (and there's precious little of it, on humans or animals)
implies the possibility of neural damage.  The animal study Lamont
mentions found 5-HT degradation from even small doses, which was indeed
reparable, but large doses caused degradation that was NOT reversed
even a full year later.  Admittedly these doses were *very* large
relative to the size of the rats they were testing.  The researchers
pointed out, though, that the neurons that DID grow back may have been
physical but not functional replacements -- in otherwords, they might
not have grown back the same way.  [I'm sorry, I can't remember this
reference, but if you really want it I can probably dredge it up.]

MUCH more disturbing than the rat study, however, are the surveys of
humans who have taken the drug.  Nearly all users report that the "good
effects" of Ex get weaker each time they take it.  In fact, researchers
were unable to find any "heavy users" of MDMA; the usage curve drops
off quickly, assumedly as the Ex high gets less and less satisfying.
The implication here [drawn by the researchers, not me]?  Ecstasy
*might* damage the very neurological subsystems responsible for its
wonderful effect.

Combine the two studies and you come up with the truly disturbing prospect
of 5-HT degradation in humans.  Brain damage: subtle, not crippling, but 
perhaps irreparable. 

On the other side, though, a large majority of the human subjects reported
that "the best day of their lives" was on Ecstasy.

I won't give advice, but *I* am going to *STOP* at 2 or 3 doses.  The best
day of my life is worth a little bit of 5-HT degradation.

In any case, ECSTASY IS NOT A "DAMN SAFE DRUG" -- at least, it hasn't been 
shown to be one yet, and the possibility exists that it is quite harmful.
More research is needed before ANYONE (including me) can say for sure how 
safe or unsafe it is.

Devon








-- 
_______________________________________________________________________________
Devon M. Copley		       					Yale University
copley-devon@cs.yale.edu       Theatre Studies, Computer Science and Psychology
COPDEVM@YALEVM.BITNET		       "No matter where you go, there you are."
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