Facts about Ecstasy
Ecstasy, also known as XTC, Adam, E, Cadillac or party pill, has increasingly been taken in recent years by young people at techno parties or rave as a pick me up. Since 1990, the scale of Ecstasy consumption has seen a sharp increase. Social conventions are less likely to stop someone swallowing a pill than smoking a drug or even injecting it. For some young people ecstacy is the introduction into the consumption of other drugs.
Why do young people take ecstasy?
Boredom, curiosity, to be part of the scene, to find a
girlfriend or a boyfriend more easily.
But ecstasy does not solve any problems, but creates new ones. If you have
problems, talk to your friends, parents, teacher or a psychologist!
What is Ecstasy?
The chemical denomination for Ecstasy is 3-4-Methylen-Dioxy-Methamphetamin, (MDMA)). Ecstasy is not a natural substance. It is produced chemically. The synthetic substance dates from 1912. MDMA is related chemically and pharmaceutically to amphetamines. The latter are stimulants that , due to their side effects, have very little medical benefits, but have nevertheless been regularly used in warfare (e.g. 'Stuka -(fall fighter bomber) Pills') to avoid fatigue and to take away soldiers, inhibitions when faced with dangerous missions.
MDMA was used in the past as an appetite suppressant, but was soon stopped due to its serious side effects. It was included in the list of forbidden substances in the mid eighties by the UN Commission for Narcotics.
Mode of action
Acute effects are caused by a strong release and reuptake inhibition of Serotonin. Serotonin is an important brain transmitter substance at the nerve endings, where the transmission of signals to other nerve cells takes place.
Generally the effect takes place 20 to 60 minutes after swallowing the pill. 2 hours later it reaches its peak, and after a further 2 hours it decreases again.
The immediate effect is an over stimulation of the whole body. The consumer of ecstacy becomes restless, hyperactive, wide awake, but sometimes also anxious and nervous. The body temperature rises. Muscles tension is increased, reflexes are heightened, while occasionally muscle cramps and shivering take place. A lasting loss of appetite is generally expected, occasionally combined with nausea.
Regular, unpleasant effects are: disturbance of personal boundries, restleness, poor concentration, reduced ability to judge, disturbances in hearing and seeing (hallucinations), anxiety, depression. On top of that there is unsteadiness in walking, headaches, muscle pains, urinary disorders.
Longer lasting effects are : less need to sleep, loss of appetite, irritability, concentration disorders, reticence, exhaustion, restleness, lower sex drive, speech amd memory defects.
Studies have shown that the damage described below is without doubt caused by ecstasy and cannot be attributed to impurities from other substance. Animal testing using rats and monkey has confirmed this.
Heart and Circulation
Possible effects are disturbances in heart rate, pulse acceleration, increased blood pressure, coronary disease, brain haemorrhages, strokes. In some cases, sudden and fatal heart attacks have taken place.
Disturbed regulation of Body Temperature
Is the best known complication. The temperature rises between 40-43 degrees centigrade. For a long time this was associated with intense dancing in overheated rooms and the loss of large amounts of fluid. But there were also cases where increased temperature occured without dancing in overheated rooms. In some cases, disintegration of muscle cells and blood coagulation in the vessels takes place simultaneously. Such serious complications are often fatal.
Diseases of the Cornea
Small injuries to the cornea are a result of disturbed eye lid movement, the effect being that the cornea can dry out and become damaged.
Death from Ecstacy Consumption
- Sudden onset of heart rhythm disturbance or heart stoppages,
- massive increase in body temperature by paralysing the temperature regulation in the brain,
- spontaneous blood clotting in the vessels, whereby the blood vessels are blocked and a supply of oxygen is no longer possible,
- toxic liver inflammation followed by liver failure,
- kidney failure with inability to release fluid
- collapse of the muscles (Rhabdomyolysis), which leads to fatal poisoning and damage of the kidneys.
A single ecstasy pill can have any one of these fatal consequences. In 1995, in Germany alone, 15 deaths were directly attributable to Ecstasy. In England it is estimated that 50 to 100 persons have died since 1990 (from oversdose, heart failure, liver failure, hypothermia, accidents). In holland, 10 deaths through ecstasy have been documented since 1996. In switzerland, 9 deaths have been reported between 1993 and 1997 according to the Federal office of Police.
In comparison
A medicine that causes one or more deaths worldwide is immediately withdrawn from the market and may be no longer be sold.
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