This chapter summarizes the literature on medical emergencies and adverse events related to MDMA/ecstasy. Published analyses suggest that most ecstasy pills contain MDMA. However, many other drugs have been detected in these pills, and some pills sold as ecstasy do not contain any MDMA. This chapter does not discuss cases involving drugs sold as ecstasy that were determined to contain no MDMA. ...

Ecstasy/MDMA use has been associated with various memory deficits. This study assessed declarative and procedural memory in ecstasy/MDMA users. Participants were tested in two sessions, 24 h apart, so that the memory consolidation function of sleep on both types of memory could also be assessed. Groups were: drug-naive controls (n1⁄4 24); recent ecstasy/MDMA users, who had taken ecstasy/MDMA 2–...

AIMS 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) can affect both neurotransmitter and neurohormonal activity. This review will debate the role of the metabolic activation hormone cortisol for the psychobiological effects of ecstasy/MDMA. METHODS The empirical literature on cortisol release following acute MDMA administration and cortisol functioning in drug-free recreational ecstasy/MDMA users w...

UNLABELLED Aims and rationale: to investigate body temperature and thermal self-ratings of Ecstasy/MDMA users at a Saturday night dance club. METHODS 68 dance clubbers (mean age 21.6 years, 30 females and 38 males), were assessed at a Saturday night dance club, then 2-3 d later. Three subgroups were compared: 32 current Ecstasy users who had taken Ecstasy/MDMA that evening, 10 abstinent Ecsta...

AIMS To improve our understanding of the pharmacology of 'ecstasy' in recreational environments; in particular, to describe the composition of ecstasy pills, patterns of ecstasy use and the relationship between dose of 3,4-methylendioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and resulting plasma concentrations. DESIGN, SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS A naturalistic observational study of 56 experienced 'ecstasy' use...

Recently, several reports have indicated instability of the ecstasy market in the Netherlands and other EU countries. In the current study, we demonstrate this instability in the Netherlands, showing a decrease of ecstasy tablets containing 3,4-methylenedioxymetamphetamine (MDMA) by more than 50% in 2009. In addition, we describe a partial replacement of MDMA in tablets sold as ecstasy by a pre...

3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), known as ecstasy, is a hallucinogen and stimulant illicit drug. Besides the systemic effects of this drug are well documented, it can also present with range oral side such ulcerations, to our knowledge, there only few cases involving mucosal ulcerations related MDMA abuse in literature. We encountered 38-year-old man widespread multiple attributed abus...

Recreational Ecstasy/MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) users often take a variety of psychoactive drugs, but there is little empirical data on how these drug consumption patterns change with greater experience of Ecstasy. The aim of this study was to compare the polydrug usage patterns reported by non-Ecstasy users, novice Ecstasy users, moderate Ecstasy users, and heavy Ecstasy users. I...

In this study, a simple and reliable method by gas chromatograph–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) was developed for the fast and regular identification of 3, 4-MDMA impurities in ecstasy tablets. In so doing, 8 samples of impurities were extracted by diethyl ether under alkaline condition and then analyzed by GC–MS. The results revealed high MDMA levels ranging from 37.6% to 57.7%. The GC-MS method sh...

Background: Ecstasy, mainly composed of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), is one of the most popular addictive synthetic drugs. This study was aimed to investigate the amount of MDMA in the ecstasy tablets seized in West Azerbaijan province, northwest Iran and also to assess the relationship between the physicochemical and morphological characteristics of the tablets. Methods: MDMA cont...