A Medical Account of Ecstasy's Effects

To the editors:

I congratulate you on last week's well done piece, "'E' is for Ecstasy" (FM, April 27). However, I feel compelled to add a few bits of information for completeness.

First of all, let's face the obvious. There is no such thing as a "safe high." Whether natural or synthetic, these chemical compounds were not made illegal on a whim; they were made illegal due to sound scientific and pharmaceutical research and/or testing.

Secondly, even though all of the users interviewed in the story used the very same drug, all seemed to have quite a bit of variation in their experiences and interpretations. Although, this happened quite a bit for all drugs (legal and illegal), the reason is never really explained. One theory, the Substance-Set-Setting model of pharmalogic drugs, postulates that it is not only substance (the drug) that effects experiences, but also the setting and most importantly the expectations of the drug. In some cases, expectations not only influence the experience, but have been shown to be more important than the drug being taken.

Although research is being conducted as we speak, a few things about the after effects of ecstasy (MDMA) seem well supported. Primarily, MDMA kills brain cells each and every time it is used. Moreover, the seats of memory (both short and long term) are affected for significant amounts of time (sometimes as long as seven years). Furthermore, there seems to be marked increases in various psychological disorders, including acute and chronic depression and schizophrenia.

John Ruggiero

April 25, 2000