XTC, MDMA, E, Pill, …
The motifs on the pills are also frequently used as names. Ecstasy is the name given since the 1980s to so-called “party pills” that initially almost exclusively comprised the active ingredient MDMA. Nowadays, Ecstasy is a generic term for a multitude of pills.
The ingredients differ in terms of their main active ingredient, their dose and composition. The following information refers to
Ecstasy with the main active ingredient MDMA.
Main active ingredient
- MDMA (3,4‑Methylendioxy-Nmethylamphetamine)
Legal status
- Illegal: consumption, possession, acquisition, production and dealing are prohibited.
Forms of consumption
- Mainly swallowed (as a pill or in crystalline form as a powder or in capsules)
Onset and duration of effect
- Swallowed:
- Onset: after approx.20–45 minutes (sometimes even longer)
- Duration: approx. 4–6 hours
Effects
- Increased energy, heightened alertness and urge to move
- Heightened sensation of empathy, feeling of harmony, closeness to and affinity with other people
- Intense experience of own feelings, self-acceptance, letting go of anxieties
- Disinhibition, enhanced sociability, and communication skills
- Reduced perception of fatigue, hunger and thirst
- Pleasant body awareness, enhanced sensitivity to touch
- Altered visual and aural acuity
Risks and side effects
- Unpleasantly heightened senses
- Anxiety, psychotic disorders
- Hallucinations
- Jaw cramps, muscle tremors, convulsions
- Feeling sick, nausea, loss of appetite
- Increased blood pressure
- Dehydration and increased body temperature (danger of heatstroke)
- Circulatory collapse, heart palpitations and cardiac arrhythmia
Long-term risks
- Addiction
- Sleep disorders and poor concentration
- Depression
- Reduced intellectual capacity
- Headaches, muscle stiffness
- Liver, kidney and heart damage
Good to know …
- For many years it was said that MDMA had been developed as long ago as 1912 by the pharmaceutical company Merck as an appetite suppressant, but never marketed. This has since been refuted as a myth. It transpired instead that the company was looking for an alternative way of producing the styptic substance Hydrastinine, to circumvent an existing patent.
- Because of its sense-heightening and disinhibitory effect, Ecstasy is often called the “cuddling drug” or “love drug”.
- Ecstasy is typically “marketed” in pill form with various colours and markings. As consumers are ignorant of the type and quantity of the ingredients because of their illegal production, it is impossible to predict the effects and possible side effects.
Does Ecstasy enable techno fans to dance the night away?
In the late 1980s Ecstasy developed into the “drug of choice” on the back of the emerging rave culture and is heavily consumed to this day within the electronic dance music scene. The combination of music and the stimulating effect of Ecstasy can sometimes enable consumers to dance for hours on end. The greatest acute danger of consumption in these circumstances is overheating of the body, because MDMA has a dehydrating and temperature-raising effect. Intense dancing further increases the overheating effect, such that the body’s warning signals are often not recognised for what they are. Adequate fluid intake and regular breaks can counter this.
Can Ecstasy cause addiction?
Even if daily consumption is extremely rare, it is possible to become addicted to Ecstasy (MDMA), if for example you go partying every weekend and have the impression that you only can “feel good” when taking the drug.
There is no such thing as a risk-free consumption of legal and illegal drugs!
When consuming any legal and / or illegal drug, the subjectively perceived effects depend on various factors (how consumed, dose, age, gender, environment, mood as well as experience and expectation).
Consumption of any drug can result in addiction.
The consumption of legal and illegal drugs is to be discouraged:
- During adolescence (physical and mental development)
- When driving and during other activities requiring a “clear head” (e.g. sport, when operating machinery, …)
- At the workplace / at school
- During pregnancy and breastfeeding
- If there are previous medical conditions
Particular care is also required:
- If the quality of the product is unknown and cannot be checked
- In the event of combined use, e.g. alcohol and other drug
- When medication is taken at the same time
If you notice that a person is not well after having consumed legal or illegal drugs, act responsibly and look after that person. If in doubt, phone the emergency number and administer first aid.