Ecstasy

             The growing popularity of the Hug Drug, also known as the Love Drug, Blue Kisses, E, XTC, Roll, or White Doves all make the drug MDMA seem innocent and harmless (Kolchik 1). In reality, these cute names of MDMA contradict the dangerous and harmful effects it has on a person's body and mind. Although this drug has these dangerous effects, MDMA is growing quickly among teenagers and young adults (Leinwand 1). It is now said that ecstasy is quickly becoming " "the rave generation's cocaine" " (Kolchik 1). The physcotherapuetic use of the amphetamine, MDMA, commonly known as known as Ecstasy, is dangerous and should be banned.
             Studies have been taking to show how harmful this illegal drug can be and also how fast it's popularity has been growing among teenagers, middle-school aged students and young adults. Ecstasy is a growing problem to today's teenagers and children. Patrick Zickler provides the following information in a article written in the NIDA's journal about the growing problem Ecstasy is causing:.
             "This survey provides crucial information on the real-world experience of young people with drugs, and the recent increases in MDMA use are a major concern," said NIDA Director Dr. Alan I. Leshner. "Ecstasy is not a 'fun' drug. It is neurotoxic-it severely damages brain cells and has consequences that include dehydration, hypertension, hyperthermia, and heart or kidney failure." .
             The Graph in Patrick Zickler's article illustrates how Ecstasy has grown among high school leveled students:.
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             Ecstasy is a chemically made drug and created in a lab. Ecstasy has a 2-carbon ethyl group, and it's chemical make up is N-methyl-3, 4- methylenedioxyamphetamine. The chemical name of Ecstasy is Methylenedioxy- methamphetamine, in which it is giving the shortened abbreviation of MDMA (Holland 07). The chemical structure of the drug resembles the structure of the hallucinogen's material, mescaline.