Ecstasy Essay Research Paper Methylenedioxymethamhetamine the compound

Ecstasy Essay, Research Paper

Methylenedioxymethamhetamine, the compound used in the drug Ecstasy, was developed in Germany in 1914 as an intermediary substance to pave the way to alternative therapeutic medicines. Presently, MDMA is used for a subculture in America and all over the world of “ravers” who spend their weekends taking this unique drug because of its seemingly mind- expanding properties. The truth about this drug is that it fools the body’s senses by releasing too much serotonin and possibly permanently damaging important nerve cells in the process.

Many studies claim that MDMA cannot be considered a narcotic because they believe it to be non-addictive. The body becomes accustomed to a substance, a criterion for addiction, so that the body requires ever-increasing amounts of the drug to maintain similar pharmacological effects when used (Encarta 99). Another form of addiction, called habituation, is defined as a psychological urge to use the substance, even when the dependence has worn off.

According to the World Health Organization, becoming dependent requires at least: “a strong desire to take the drug; difficulties controlling the behavior; a withdrawal state; tolerance; progressive neglect of alternative pleasures and persisting with use despite evidence of harm” (Jansen).

A study by Karl L. R. Jansen shows three distinct cases where these criteria are met. One subject, age 19, spent his entire disposable income on MDMA. Despite a seizure caused by use of this and other drugs, the subject “was unable to stop using MDMA without external assistance” (Jansen). Another subject exhibited an extremely high tolerance to the drug so that he was able to take 250mg with almost no effect. “Despite severe depression, he was unable to stop using MDMA although he believed that this was a cause.” The third subject suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after witnessing a combined murder-suicide. He took MDMA and felt feelings of attachment for the first time since the incident and thus, continued using the drug heavily. “Despite evidence of harm to himself, his use of both MDMA and alcohol continued.”

In all of the preceding cases, the subjects admitted to using other, more potent drugs such as amphetamines and cocaine. The subject’s dependence to MDMA may have been a result of combining with these harder drugs, but Jansen still contests that, “With repeated, high frequency use, the effects of MDMA may become gradually less empathy-generating and more like amphetamines” (Jansen).

The science of MDMA has to do primarily with the release of the neurotransmitter serotonin from the axon terminals in brain cells. The brain contains billions of cells, consisting of a cell body which stores the DNA, dendrites that receive chemical signals from other brain cells, and an axon, a long cylindrical body which relays electrical signals from the cell body to the axon terminals (Sferios). Most serotonin cells begin in a part of the brain called the “raphe nuclei”. The serotonin cells are much longer and thicker than other brain cells, and they branch off from the raphe nuclei to all other parts of the brain.

The brain communicates within itself by the use of the brain cells. The neurotransmitter is released from nerve terminals found at the axon base. When they diffuse across the synapse, they are then recognized by receptors on the receiving cell with which they attach themselves. The major function this bond performs is it, “induces, inhibits or modulates currents of electrically charged particles (ions) across the cell membrane” (Aertes).

Serotonin is a neurotransmitter, synthesized by the amino acid tryptophan and tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH). The amino acid 5 Hydroxy-Tryptophan (5htp) comes in contact with the enzyme decarboxylese when it diffuses through the brain cells’ membrane. 5htp is synthesized from tryptophan, which is found in a diet high in proteins, however, tryptophan must go through a number of metabolic changes before it turns into 5htp (Sferios). After being synthesized, it is stored in pre-synaptic or membrane vesicles (Leon van Aertes, PhD). Serotonin’s main functions are to control mood, appetite, and sleep. There are other neurotransmitters in the brain that function along with serotonin. Serotonin and dopamine are the two that are closely related to accepted hypotheses about the neurotoxicity of MDMA.

The normal function of serotonin in a neuron is much different from the actions that take place once MDMA is taken into the system. Normally, the molecules of serotonin remain in the axon terminal until an electrical signal from the brain tells the molecules to be released. Transport vesicles in the axon terminal take up the serotonin and then bond with the cell surface membrane and bud off into the synapse to release serotonin (Sferios). There are two specialized parts of the neurons that function in this serotonergic system. First, the receptors, at the ends of the dendrites, which have the specific function of absorbing the serotonin into the cell and beginning its transport, down the axon to the next terminal. When normal amounts of serotonin are released, the number of these receptors remains small, because serotonin is a neurotransmitter that takes a lot of time to be synthesized and, thus, not much is used at any given time. The second part of the system is the reuptake transporters o