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| Common Street Names | Ecstasy, E, XTC, Love Drug, Hug Drug, Lover’s Speed, and Disco Biscuits. |
| Chemical Composition | MDMA is a stimulant with mild hallucinogenic properties, similar in chemical composition to both MDA and Methamphetamine. |
| User Patterns | MDMA is taken orally in tablet or capsule form. The user begins to feel the effects within 1 hour of ingestion. Effects may last up to 6 hours, depending on dose, purity, and the environment in which it is taken. Some users take multiple doses in order to suspend the effect, sometimes consuming as many as 10 tablets in a single night. |
| Physiological Effects | MDMA use greatly increases blood pressure and heart rate. Body temperature can increase to 109 degrees if taken at a club or rave where there is physical exertion. Obvious physical effects include muscle tension, involuntary teeth clenching, nausea, blurred vision, rapid eye movement, faintness, chills or sweating, extreme relaxation, and tremors. Use can result in heart failure or heat stroke. |
| Psychological Effects | MDMA is a mood/mind-altering drug, affecting brain serotonin levels. Common psychological effects are feelings of emotional closeness coupled with the breakdown of personal communication barriers, a sense of peace with oneself and the world, an enhanced sense of pleasure, greater self-confidence, and an increased sense of energy. Some users may experience panic attacks. |
| Short-Term Effects | Short-term effects of MDMA include confusion, depression, sleep problems, drug craving, severe anxiety, paranoia, hallucinations, and amnesia. MDMA also suppresses the desire to eat, drink, or sleep. |
| Long-Term Effects | Recent studies on rats and monkeys indicate that MDMA causes permanent brain damage in the areas critical to thought and memory and that it damages the neurons that use serotonin to communicate with other neurons. Users who develop an acne-like rash and continue to use MDMA are at increased risk of severe liver damage. MDMA may alter motor skills, giving the user the appearance of suffering from Parkinson’s disease. |