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...

Ecstasy users report that the drug produces feelings of increased empathy and sociability [1]. Such ‘empathogenic’ effects are thought to motivate recreational use of ecstasy [2]. In addition, the rationale for the proposed use of MDMA as an adjunct to psychotherapy centers on these effects [3]. Controlled studies confirm that MDMA administration produces prosocial feelings in humans [e.g. 4], ...

The first individual case studies were published around 1990-1994, soon after MDMA was used for recreational purposes. In a comprehensive review of this case study literature, around one third of individuals had premorbid problems, while most cases did not have prior vulnerability factors [3]. Larger population surveys have found that recreational Ecstasy use is associated with significantly ra...

A new ecstasy-like substance, meta-chlorophenylpiperazine (mCPP), has been detected in street drugs in the Netherlands. Theoretically, mCPP possesses the potential to become a non-neurotoxic alternative for methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), the regular psychoactive substance of ecstasy. Since its introduction on the Dutch market of synthetic drugs, the percentage of mCPP-containing tablets ...

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 conte...

This Ecstasy/MDMA symposium was held at the Annual Conference of the Australian Psychological Society, Hobart, Tasmania, in September 2008. The Australian government has been funding research into MDMA for many years, and hence there are several Australian groups at the forefront of international research in this field. Included in the studies reported here, were collaborations with universitie...

Historically, ecstasy tablets contained 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) as the psychoactive component. In recent years, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and other law enforcement agencies have seized ecstasy tablets that are comprised of psychoactive drugs or drug mixtures other than MDMA. Many jurisdictions have reported the presence of piperazine derivatives including 1-benz...

Previous research has shown that heavy users of ecstasy (MDMA) may suffer impaired cognitive functioning, and the present study set out to investigate whether such impairment might also be found in light users or ex-users of MDMA. Sixty subjects, comprising 20 current light users, 20 ex-users, and 20 non-users of ecstasy, were tested on an extensive battery of cognitive tests. Current light use...

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...