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<blockquote data-quote="thevic24" data-source="post: 7402490" data-attributes="member: 575973">How Is MDMA Abused?&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; MDMA is taken orally, usually as a capsule or tablet. It&nbsp; was initially popular among Caucasian adolescents and young adults in&nbsp; the nightclub scene or at weekend-long dance parties known as raves.&nbsp; More recently, the profile of the typical MDMA user has changed, with&nbsp; the drug now affecting a broader range of ethnic groups. MDMA is also&nbsp; popular among urban gay males—some report using MDMA as part of a&nbsp; multiple-drug experience that includes marijuana, cocaine,&nbsp; methamphetamine, ketamine, sildenafil (Viagra), and other legal and&nbsp; illegal substances.How Does MDMA Affect the Brain?&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; MDMA exerts its primary effects in the brain on neurons&nbsp; that use the chemical (or neurotransmitter) serotonin to communicate&nbsp; with other neurons. The serotonin system plays an important role in&nbsp; regulating mood, aggression, ****** activity, sleep, and sensitivity to&nbsp; pain. MDMA binds to the serotonin transporter, which is responsible for&nbsp; removing serotonin from the synapse (or space between adjacent neurons)&nbsp; to terminate the signal between neurons; thus MDMA increases and&nbsp; prolongs the serotonin signal. MDMA also enters the serotonergic neurons&nbsp; via the transporter (because MDMA resembles serotonin in chemical&nbsp; structure) where it causes excessive release of serotonin from the&nbsp; neurons. MDMA has similar effects on another&nbsp; neurotransmitter—norepinephrine, which can cause increases in heart rate&nbsp; and blood pressure. MDMA also releases dopamine, but to a much lesser&nbsp; extent.MDMA can produce confusion, depression, sleep problems,&nbsp; drug craving, and severe anxiety. These problems can occur soon after&nbsp; taking the drug or, sometimes, even days or weeks after taking MDMA. In&nbsp; addition, chronic users of MDMA perform more poorly than nonusers on&nbsp; certain types of cognitive or memory tasks, although some of these&nbsp; effects may be due to the use of other drugs in combination with MDMA.&nbsp; Research in animals indicates that MDMA can be harmful to the brain—one&nbsp; study in nonhuman primates showed that exposure to MDMA for only 4 days&nbsp; caused damage to serotonin nerve terminals that was still evident 6 to 7&nbsp; years later.<a href="http://www.drugabuse.gov/infofacts/ecstasy.html#Anchor-49575" target="_blank">1</a>&nbsp; Although similar neurotoxicity has not been shown definitively in&nbsp; humans, the wealth of animal research indicating MDMA’s damaging&nbsp; properties strongly suggests that MDMA is not a safe drug for human&nbsp; consumption.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="thevic24, post: 7402490, member: 575973"] [B]How Is MDMA Abused?[/B] [B] [/B] MDMA is taken orally, usually as a capsule or tablet. It was initially popular among Caucasian adolescents and young adults in the nightclub scene or at weekend-long dance parties known as raves. More recently, the profile of the typical MDMA user has changed, with the drug now affecting a broader range of ethnic groups. MDMA is also popular among urban gay males—some report using MDMA as part of a multiple-drug experience that includes marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, ketamine, sildenafil (Viagra), and other legal and illegal substances. [B]How Does MDMA Affect the Brain?[/B] [B] [/B] MDMA exerts its primary effects in the brain on neurons that use the chemical (or neurotransmitter) serotonin to communicate with other neurons. The serotonin system plays an important role in regulating mood, aggression, ****** activity, sleep, and sensitivity to pain. MDMA binds to the serotonin transporter, which is responsible for removing serotonin from the synapse (or space between adjacent neurons) to terminate the signal between neurons; thus MDMA increases and prolongs the serotonin signal. MDMA also enters the serotonergic neurons via the transporter (because MDMA resembles serotonin in chemical structure) where it causes excessive release of serotonin from the neurons. MDMA has similar effects on another neurotransmitter—norepinephrine, which can cause increases in heart rate and blood pressure. MDMA also releases dopamine, but to a much lesser extent. MDMA can produce confusion, depression, sleep problems, drug craving, and severe anxiety. These problems can occur soon after taking the drug or, sometimes, even days or weeks after taking MDMA. In addition, chronic users of MDMA perform more poorly than nonusers on certain types of cognitive or memory tasks, although some of these effects may be due to the use of other drugs in combination with MDMA. Research in animals indicates that MDMA can be harmful to the brain—one study in nonhuman primates showed that exposure to MDMA for only 4 days caused damage to serotonin nerve terminals that was still evident 6 to 7 years later.[URL="http://www.drugabuse.gov/infofacts/ecstasy.html#Anchor-49575"][SIZE=8px]1[/SIZE][/URL] Although similar neurotoxicity has not been shown definitively in humans, the wealth of animal research indicating MDMA’s damaging properties strongly suggests that MDMA is not a safe drug for human consumption. [/QUOTE]

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