User:Spencemac724/Useful links

Description:
 * Brief

MDMA (Methylenedioxymethamphetamine) is a synthetic drug that has stimulant and psychoactive properties. It is taken orally as a capsule or tablet.


 * Street Names:

Ecstasy, X, Disco Biscuits, Adam, hug, beans, love drug, Jerry Garcias


 * Effects:

Short-term effects include feelings of mental stimulation, emotional warmth, enhanced sensory perception, and increased physical energy. Adverse health effects can include nausea, chills, sweating, teeth clenching, muscle cramping, and blurred vision. MDMA can interfere with the body's ability to regulate temperature; on rare occasions, this can be lethal.

and Trends:
 * Statistics

In 2008, 2.1 million Americans age 12 and older had abused MDMA at least once in the year prior to being surveyed.Source: National Survey on Drug Use and Health (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration Web Site). The NIDA-funded 2008 Monitoring the Future Study showed that 1.7% of 8th graders, 2.9% of 10th graders, and 4.3% of 12th graders had abused MDMA at least once in the year prior to being surveyed. Source: Monitoring the Future

Long term effects include...

http://addictionca.com/FAQ-ecstasy.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MDMA#History

The most common effects reported by users include:[62]

* A general and subjective alteration in consciousness * A strong sense of inner peace and self-acceptance * Diminished aggression, hostility, and jealousy * Diminished fear, anxiety, and insecurity * Extreme mood lift with accompanying euphoria * Feelings of empathy, compassion, and forgiveness towards others * Feelings of intimacy and even love for others * Improved self-confidence * The ability to Proxy-Connection: keep-alive Cache-Control: max-age=0

roxy-Connection: keep-alive Cache-Control: max-age=0

cuss normally anxiety-provoking topics with marked ease * An intensification of perception, particularly tactile sensation or touch, as well as hearing and vision * Substantial enhancement of the appreciation for or quality of music * Mild psychedelia, consisting of mental imagery and auditory and visual distortions

As well as:

* Stimulation, arousal, and hyperactivity (e.g., many users get an "uncontrollable urge to dance" while under the influence) * Increased energy and endurance * Increased alertness, awareness, and wakefulness * Increased desire, drive, and motivation * Cognitive and memory impairment * Hypersexuality and aphrodisiac effects * Analgesia or decreased pain sensitivity

Effects reported by users once the acute effects of MDMA have worn off include:

* Psychological o Anxiety, even panic attacks o Depression o Irritability or aggression o Fatigue or malaise o Agitation or restlessness o Impaired attention, focus, and concentration, as well as drive and motivation o Paradoxal dysphoria through hypersensitivity, see set and setting o Residual feelings of empathy, emotional sensitivity, and a sense of closeness to others (afterglow)

* Physiological o Dizziness, lightheadedness, or vertigo o Gastrointestinal disturbances, such as diarrhea or constipation o Headache or migraine o Insomnia o Aches and pains, from excessive physical activity (e.g., dancing) o Jaw soreness, from trismus or bruxism

Upon overdose, the potentially serious serotonin syndrome, stimulant psychosis, and/or hypertensive crisis, among other dangerous adverse reactions, may come to prominence, the symptoms of which can include the following:

* Psychological o Disorientation and/or confusion o Anxiety, paranoia, and/or panic attacks o Hypervigilance or increased sensitivity to perceptual stimuli, accompanied by significantly increased threat detection o Hypomania or full-blown mania o Derealization and/or depersonalization o Hallucinations and/or delusions o Thought disorder or disorganized thinking o Cognitive and memory impairment potentially to the point of retrograde or anterograde amnesia o Acute delirium and/or insanity

* Physiological o Myoclonus or involuntary and intense muscle twitching o Hyperreflexia or overresponsive or overreactive reflexes o Tachypnoea or rapid breathing and/or dyspnea or shortness of breath o Palpitations or abnormal awareness of the beating of the heart o Angina pectoris or severe chest pain, as well as pulmonary hypertension (PH) o Cardiac arrhythmia or abnormal electrical activity of the heart o Circulatory shock or cardiogenic shock o Vasculitis or destruction of blood vessels o Cardiotoxicity or damage to the heart o Cardiac arrest, myocardial infarction or heart attack, and/or heart failure o Hemorrhage and/or stroke o Severe hyperthermia, potentially resulting in organ failure

* Miscellaneous o Syncope or fainting or loss of consciousness o Organ failure (as mentioned above) o possible brain damage o Coma and/or death

Short-term health concerns

Short-term physical health risks of MDMA consumption include hyperthermia,[81][82] and hyponatremia.[83] Continuous activity without sufficient rest or rehydration may cause body temperature to rise to dangerous levels, and loss of fluid via excessive perspiration puts the body at further risk as the stimulatory and euphoric qualities of the drug may render the user oblivious to their energy expenditure for quite some time. Diuretics such as alcohol may exacerbate these risks further.

Long-term effects on serotonin and dopamine

MDMA causes a reduction in the concentration of serotonin transporters (SERTs) in the brain. The rate at which the brain recovers from serotonergic changes is unclear. One study [84] demonstrated lasting serotonergic changes occurring due to MDMA exposure. Other studies[85][86] have suggested that the brain may recover from serotonergic damage.

Some studies show that MDMA may be neurotoxic in humans.[87][88] Other studies, however, suggest that any potential brain damage may be at least partially reversible following prolonged abstinence from MDMA.[86][89] However, other studies suggest that SERT-depletion arises from long-term MDMA use due to receptor down-regulation, rather than true neurotoxicity.[90] Depression and deficits in memory have been shown to occur more frequently in long-term MDMA users.[91][92] However, some recent studies have suggested that MDMA use may not be associated with chronic depression.[93][94]

One study on MDMA toxicity, by George A. Ricaurte of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, which claimed that a single recreational dose of MDMA could cause Parkinson's Disease in later life due to severe dopaminergic stress, was actually retracted by Ricaurte himself after he discovered his lab had administered not MDMA but methamphetamine, which is known to cause dopaminergic changes similar to the serotonergic changes caused by MDMA.[95] Ricaurte blamed this mistake on the chemical supply company that sold the material to his lab. Most studies have found that levels of the dopamine transporter (or other markers of dopamine function) in MDMA users deserve further study or are normal.