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behavioutr of taking ecstasy
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The Use of Ecstasy
The party drug ecstasy (MDMA) is widely popular, particularly among
young people. Over 10 million people reported using the drug at least
once in their lifetime, a majority of these users were aged 18 to 25.
2) Ecstasy is a depressant and causes numerous psychological effects
including: confusion, depression, sleep apnoea, drug craving and
severe anxiety.
3) An experiment conducted by researches at Louisiana State University
showed the short term and long term effects of MDMA on rats. After a
short period, the rats heart rate slowed initially, then sped up.
After a longer period, the heart rates slowed even more and blood
pressure dropped dramatically. 70% of the rats showed abnormal heart
rhythms after receiving MDMA. Although a single dose of MDMA did not
result in any apparent heart damage, three MDMA doses caused
inflammation of the heart wall. As if these problems aren’t bad
enough, ecstasy can affect users for days or even weeks after they
take the drug. After-effects can include problems with memory, mood,
and concentration. Users also can lose their appetite and have muscle
aches, headaches, and problems with balance. Some side effects can be
more serious—including heart failure, liver damage, and kidney
failure. It may even be possible that heavy and continued use of
ecstasy can damage the brain.
One danger is that the drug reduces the body’s ability to control its
temperature and water content. Ecstasy users who are dancing non-stop
at clubs or parties can collapse as they become overheated and
dehydrated. Ecstasy also can raise a user’s heart rate and blood
pressure. Other effects include nausea, loss of appetite, jaw
tightness, and constant chewing and teeth clenching. Large doses of
ecstasy can cause anxiety, panic, and depression.
4) The social effects that people claim ecstasy is supposed to bring
are happy feelings and desire which is why it is known as the “love
drug” or the “hug drug.” It fosters a sense of closeness that many
teens crave. But research now shows that the drug may have a special
Amphetamines produce feelings of euphoria, relieve fatigue, improve performance, increase activity, and suppress appetite. Euphoric effects associated with the use of amphetamines, increase potential for abuse. Consequently, prolonged use of amphetamines may lead to drug dependence and tolerance. Desired effects are only achieved by increasing to higher doses of amphetamine, which can result in an acute overdose. Seizures, hypertension, tachycardia, hyperthermia, psychosis, hallucinations, stroke, or death can be experienced. Additional reports revealed that those who abuse amphetamines were significantly more likely to report using a greater number of illicit substances including nicotine, marijuana, cocaine, hallucinogens, and opiates.
MDMA stimulates the release of the neurotransmitter serotonin from brain neurons, producing a high that lasts from several minutes to an hour. The drug's rewarding effects vary with the individual taking it, the dose and purity, and the environment in which it is taken. MDMA can produce stimulant effects such as an enhanced sense of pleasure and self-confidence and increased energy. Its psychedelic effects include feelings of peacefulness, acceptance, and empathy. Users claim they experience feelings of closeness with others and a desire to touch them. Because MDMA engenders feelings of closeness and trust and has a short duration of action, some clinicians claim that the drug is potentially valuable as a psychotherapeutic agent.
The NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE defines the drug Ecstasy (MDMA) as a synthetic, psychoactive drug that is chemically similar to the stimulant methamphetamine and the hallucinogen mescaline. The drugs clinical name is MDMA (3, 4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine). Psychoactive drugs are considered mind-altering drugs and ecstasy’s chemical structure is similar to other synthetic drugs that are known to cause brain damage. (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2009) Although Ecstasy was not made illegal until 1985, most research indicates its original intended use was that of an appetite suppressant, which was developed in 1912 by the German pharmaceutical company Merck. However, further research refutes that statement and there is substantial documentation alleging that Merck never intended to use ecstasy (MDMA) as an appetite suppressant, but rather as a means of evading present patents for haemostatic substances; substances used to stop the flow of blood and promote clotting. (The Author’s Journal, 2006) Ecstasy (MDMA) is created in laboratories in the form of a pill, which varies in color, shape, and size; most are branded with various symbols to represent and promote a specific seller or type of pill.
Dutch studies grouped participants into three categories of users: moderate, heavy, and ex-users. Moderate use is classified as less than 50 tablets; heavy is more than 50 tablets; and ex-users were reportedly off ecstasy for at least one-year before the study. Users had to abstain from all drug use for 3 weeks before the study was conducted. The three groups were also categorized by gender and age. The study revealed that MAMA use might result in lowered levels in the density of serotonin transporters in the brain. It also suggests that the degree of those levels was partially dependent on sex. Moderate users of both male and female participants did not seem to lead to a large reduction in the production of serotonin.
Everyone has his or her own opinion about drugs. Recreational drug use is using an illegal drug to get high. Instrumental use can be described when a person uses the same drug to achieve an effect to complete a task. Society has had many different views about drugs, and has changed its view many times throughout history. Today, we are facing a war on drugs, drug cartels, drug abuse, prison overcrowding and many others. All these have roots with drugs. There are always two sides to every story, and I will show that the use of amphetamines is both recreational and instrumental, and using it prescribed, recreationally or instrumental can have less desired effects according to research. Everyone has a choice when it comes to drugs in the United States and we must choose wisely. This is how I see it.
MDMA, also known as Ecstasy, beans, rolls, or just plain X. This drug has a long history, which began almost 90 years ago. In 1912 Merck, a German pharmaceutical company, first synthesized MDMA (Erowid). MDMA was then patented in 1913 or maybe 1914 (patent #274.350) by the same German company supposedly to be sold as a diet pill (The Invention). The patent has no mention of any intended uses of the drug. There are other urban legends associated with Ecstasy, such as in 1953 the US Army tested MDMA as a possible truth serum, but there is no evidence for this (Saunders).
The past two years, Ecstasy has also been practiced in urban areas, especially in college towns. Many college fraternities use the drug as an aphrodisiac. It is called the “love drug” because it is believed that the best sexual intercourse is when you are under the influence of Ecstasy. The effects have been compared to “a six hour orgasm.” In addition, massages are often given to enhance the effects of Ecstasy.
In a world where mental illnesses like PTSD, depression, and autism are becoming more and more prevalent, MDMA, or “Ecstasy” is just the mental boost that someone needs and is illegally being dealt to patients while in therapy or counseling. The theory is that MDMA can raise “happiness levels” by forcing the brain to release serotonin and dopamine at the same time, resulting in intense euphoria and “ego softening” (Errowid). Some other side effects of MDMA can include feelings of inner peace, increase in social bonding, and an increase in ability to communicate. Some of the less positive side effects can be eye wiggling, increased heart rate, and dehydration. All of which, are quite manageable and not too noticeable. Sufferers of social anxiety and depression could greatly benefit from MDMA, as it can break down inner boundaries and increase the need to be around other people. A grou...
Unlike amphetamines, which are very addictive, ecstasy is not. However, this drug can sometimes take a lot of importance in people's lives. Like any other medication, ecstasy if taken too often loses its effect on individual intake. A person experiences more euphoric ecstasy is the clear feeling, which begins to feel like regular amphetamine. Ecstasy usually occurs as a pill, and takes effect from twenty minutes to an hour after taking. All your feelings are improved. The top is reported to be very nice and the top is controllable. A user described, eh even in fact of the advanced drug, people can easily reduce to answer an important question. In a sense, you can take control of the effects of drugs. Ecstasy allows a person to experience empathy, peace and openness. Some even feel changes in their spiritual vision of values. Ecstasy can be compared to the antidepressant Prozac, since it allows people to favoguila consciously. Barriers disappear and people do not feel inhibited. The drug, for example, gives many women a sense of empowerment and prejudice of people, a sense of freedom of belief and other stereotypes. Of course, the effects vary from person to
Even the most clueless among us know about “ecstasy” today; thanks to news and the media who have labeled it a “thrill pill” and “love drug,” and proclaimed it America’s newest “drug problem.” Although many therapists are praising it, researchers are also knocking it. All together, they have found that ecstasy, a drug similar to MDMA, has short and long term effects on the brain that vary from person to person.
It is said that everybody has their own type of medicine that works for them, however on certain occasions not all of these medicines are prescribed and many strongly oppose for this type of medicine to be used. John Lennon was one of the many who used un-prescribed medicine. Lennon and many others agree that the use of hallucinogenic drugs peacefully cleared their mind and made them understand what they meant to the world and connected them to everything around them in a deeper level. Which lead to the creation of the well-known Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. quote “A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimension’s”. No medicine had ever helped them achieve that inner peace and understanding that they were looking for until they tried hallucinogens in a medicinal way. After what is known as the “hippie era” Hallucinogenic drugs were made illegal and societies view went from the drug that made a person peaceful and lovable to the drug that was repugnant and awfully dangerous. Although hallucinogens are considered dangerous drugs not to be dabbled with by the average person, it has recently been proven to work as a successful therapy proving that they are safe and raising the question if they should be recognized as a way of therapy.
“Ecstasy”, a drug with many different opinions and views, is often viewed as a killer, which is a stretch of the truth. The drug is sometimes thought of as one of the worst things in the world, but also as the best. Health issues are a problem and there have been some deaths .The deaths though are no way near the number of alcohol or cigarette deaths. How could such a beautiful word be considered such a horrible thing . Ecstasy can kill, but you can die tomorrow by being hit by a car or getting shot, why not live your life to the fullest. Live everyday as if it were your last, but don’t be stupid about it. Ecstasy does not kill a person, that’s just the excuse they use for ruining their life or killing themselves.
Happiness can mean many different things to many different people. A hard worker may define it as completing a difficult task. A hopeless romantic may define it as finding true love. A religious person may define it as achieving a specific level of spirituality. Webster’s definition of happiness is “good fortune; a state of well-being and contentment; a pleasurable or satisfying experience.” Some synonyms included for happiness are bliss, felicity, joy, and ecstasy. It is therefore obvious how the euphoria-inducing amphetamine relates to its name. People that are uneducated in the area of drugs may associate ecstasy only with the issue of substance abuse. However, to fully understand ecstasy and all its related topics, it is vital to identify the chemical structure and history of MDMA, the corresponding effects, and then the recreational abuse.
A drug is considered psychoactive if it has an effect on the central nervous system which alters a person’s thought and behavior (Cole & Cole, 1963). Humans have had a long-running affair with psychoactive substances and have responded to the demand for them with both altruism and opportunism. While much of pharmaceutical industry genuinely seeks and works for the betterment of mankind, it is also driven and influenced by capitalism and power struggles. This has been the case since man first discovered that substances can be refined, combined and consumed to provide physical and mental relief from suffering. The continuous improvements in drug potencies and in the processes for manufacturing and distributing them, ingenious marketing campaigns, and the consideration of consumers’ favored methods of intake all play roles in how a drug is embraced by society.
In my opinion, I do not believe it’s a good idea for psychedelic drugs to be legal in any church. To me, this creates more harm than good. There is a lot of controversy, problems and speculation to any type of drug. I could not imagine the factors or problems associated with the church if psychedelics are legal for religious purposes. However, I am in support of drugs that are used and only used for medical purposes. For instance, some who has cancer or a psychological disorder, if certain drugs on the market help someone for a medical condition then absolutely, yes, I am support and all for it. What I am against are people who abuse drugs to begin with. Especially, those who individuals who have no medical condition whatsoever and should