Ecstasy and Chemical Warfare

Prof.Gabriel G. Nahas, M.D., Ph.D., EURAD Scientific Advisory Board.

The acute and chronic irreversible damaging effects of amphetamines and of its methylated form "Ecstasy" (MDMA) have been described for the past 20 years in authoritative U.S. and British Medical journals (reviewed by Ellenhorn, Medical Toxicology, Elsevier 1988, 1997, pp. 340-355 with 128 references). One may wonder why these drugs remain the most popular ones used by American youth. MDMA, a neurotoxic substance, produces acute and chronic brain damage, impairment of fetal development, heart failure and sudden death as well as violent and aggressive behavior in experimental animals and man, with a fatal outcome. These effects are also produced by cocaine.

The basic molecular mechanisms of action of MDMA on the brain, which lead to violent behavior, have been scientifically proven and a diagnostic test has been developed which allows for the detection of MDMA in fat; the magnitude of this measurement is an index of violent behavior. An antidote to this drug has been developed. The use of MDMA in the fifties and sixties by the youth of Sweden and Japan led to an "epidemic" of aggressive and destructive behavior in the 1970s, an epidemic curtailed only by a strict enforcement of interdiction of these drugs.

The lethal effects of MDMA have not been brought to the attention of the pubic by the specialized government agencies -- the National Institute on Mental Health (NIMH), the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), or by the Institute of Medicine. It is reported that the Food and Drug Administration is now considering a study that would use ecstasy as a medical treatment for patients addicted to MDMA, inspite of its Schedule I status (no medical application, to be entirely interdicted from consumption).

Lastly, amphetamine derivatives, like MDMA, may be used to induce criminal behavior including homicide and pre-planned suicide tactics such as those practiced in the performance of terrorist attacks including those perpetrated against America and other countries.

It is paradoxical that those who are attempting to destroy American civilization may also use ecstasy, the "happiness" drug of western youth, as a deadly chemical warfare weapon. This paradox is compounded by the fact that U.S. law bans the use of ecstasy.