Ecstasy: What Is It?

What Is Ecstasy?

“Ecstasy” is a slang term for MDMA, short for 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, a name that’s nearly as long as the all-night parties where MDMA is often used. That’s why MDMA has been called a “club drug.” It has effects similar to those of other stimulants, and it often makes the user feel like everyone is his or her friend, even when that’s not the case.

MDMA is man-made—it doesn’t come from a plant like marijuana does. Other chemicals or substances—such as caffeine, dextromethorphan (found in some cough syrups), amphetamines, PCP, or cocaine—are sometimes added to, or substituted for, MDMA in Ecstasy tablets. Makers of MDMA can add anything they want to the drug, so its purity is always in question.

What Are the Common Street Names?

There are a lot of slang words for MDMA. “Ecstasy” is one of the most common. You might also hear “E,” “XTC,” “X,” “Adam,” “hug,” “beans,” “clarity,” “lover’s speed,” and “love drug.”

How Is It Used?

Most MDMA abusers take a pill, tablet, or capsule. These pills can be different colors, and sometimes have cartoon-like images on them. Some MDMA users take more than one pill at a time, called "bumping."

How Many Teens Use It?

According to a 2008 NIDA-funded study, many smart teens are turning their backs on MDMA. Since 2001, the percentage of 8th-graders who have ever tried MDMA has dropped from 5.2 percent in 2001 to 2.4 percent in 2008, though it is a slight increase from 2007 (2.3 percent). The drop for 10th-graders was from 8.0 percent in 2001 to 4.3 percent in 2008, and 12th-graders have had the greatest decrease, from 11.7 percent in 2001 to 6.2 percent in 2008. According to 12th-graders, MDMA also seemed to be less available in 2008, which is good; but fewer 8th-graders saw "great risk" in occasionally using MDMA—perhaps the reason for the slight increase in use from 2007. It means that 8th-graders may not understand the health risks of using MDMA as well as they should.

Is MDMA Addictive?

Like other drugs, MDMA can be addictive for some people. That is, people continue to take the drug despite experiencing unpleasant physical side effects and other social, behavioral, and health consequences.

No one knows how many times a person can use a drug before becoming addicted or who’s most vulnerable to addiction. A person’s genes, living environment, and other factors play a role in whether they are likely to become addicted to MDMA.

What Are the Common Effects?

For most abusers, a “hit” of MDMA lasts for 3 to 6 hours. Once the pill is swallowed, it takes only about 15 minutes for MDMA to enter the bloodstream and reach the brain. About 45 minutes later, a user experiences MDMA’s “high.” That’s when the drug is at its peak level. MDMA users might feel very alert, or “hyper,” at first. At clubs, they can keep on dancing for hours at a time. Some lose a sense of time and experience other changes in perception, such as an enhanced sense of touch. Others experience negative effects right away. They may become anxious and agitated. Sweating or chills may occur, and users may feel faint or dizzy.

MDMA can also cause muscle tension, nausea, blurred vision, and increase heart rate and blood pressure. Forceful clenching of the teeth can occur, and individuals at clubs have been known to chew on pacifiers to relieve some of the tension.

It’s downhill from there, unless the user “bumps” and takes more MDMA. But even if a person takes only one pill, the side effects of MDMA—including feelings of sadness, anxiety, depression, and memory difficulties—can last for several days to a week (or longer in regular MDMA users).

Dangers

In general, NIDA-supported research shows that abuse of any drug, including MDMA, can cause serious health problems and, in some instances, even death. Many drug abusers take combinations of drugs, including alcohol, which may further increase their risk.

MDMA users can also become dehydrated through vigorous activity in a hot environment. It may not seem like a big deal, but when MDMA interferes with the body’s ability to regulate its temperature, it can cause dangerous overheating, called hyperthermia. This, in turn, can lead to serious heart and kidney problems—or, rarely, death. MDMA can be extremely dangerous in high doses or when multiple small doses are taken within a short time period to maintain the high. High levels of the drug in the blood stream can increase the risk of hyperthermia, seizures, and the ability of the heart to maintain its normal rhythms.

Risks to the Brain

Messages travel through our brains through nerve cells, or neurons. The neurons have thread-like fibers that release chemicals to send the messages to other neurons. Researchers that study the brain think that MDMA may affect neurons that use serotonin to communicate with other neurons. The serotonin system plays a direct role in controlling our mood, aggression, sexual activity, sleep, and sensitivity to pain. Another bit of bad news—researchers have seen memory loss among regular users of MDMA.

Long-term Effects

We still don’t know whether MDMA causes long-term brain damage in humans, or whether the effects are reversible when someone stops using the drug. A study of animals showed that exposure to high doses of MDMA for 4 days produced brain damage that could still be seen 6 to 7 years later. The good news is that the study researchers found that some of the nerve fibers grew back in the same places where the toxic reactions had occurred. But, we still don’t know if these new neurons work like the old ones. It’s like cutting off a branch of a fruit tree: The tree is still alive and can sprout a new limb near the site of the cut, but it may not bear as much fruit as the old one.

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