AGONY OR ECSTASY

Picture this…… As you enter the dance club the place is hopping. The room is packed with little room to move. The driving beat of the music immediately captures your attention, and you can’t help but to move a little with the beat. You move your focus to the flashing lights surrounding the dance floor, and immediately recognize some of your friends. You wave to them to get their attention, and it works, you’ve made the connection.

After about an hour a feeling of euphoria, warmth, and security seem to surround you. You know it’s just the beginning of more to come—for you already took the little white pill before coming. Everyone says how great the feelings are, and now you get to see for yourself. Gradually the room seems to come more alive, you feel freer than ever before. All troubles, fears, and hurts have vanished, boy this is it! It’s as great as they all said.

But wait, what’s that thing over there coming my way? Suddenly you become aware of your heart pounding in your chest, you can’t see clearly, and ‘boy I feel so hot . Your stomach begins to churn, and you feel like you might vomit. Those things keep coming, and you can’t get away. Now your hands are shaking, no wait you can’t breathe…. it’s too hot…your chest hurts, you just didn’t think it would be like this…..

The next thing you remember is waking up in a hospital bed after being taken there by your friends. They tell you that you collapsed and had a seizure in the club. They also say that the doctors were really worried that you might not ‘make it’. They said you were lucky.

The previous scenario may describe the effects of MDMA or Ecstasy . Ecstasy was first synthesized in 1912 by a German company as an appetite suppressant, but was quickly discontinued because of the side effects. It is a stimulant that combines the properties of methamphetamine or “speed” with mind-altering or hallucinogenic properties. It is described as a hallucinogenic stimulant . It is known on the street as Adam, X-TC, Clarity, Essence, Stacy, Lover’s Speed, Eve, to name a few. Ecstasy is most often found in tablet, capsule, or powder form and is usually consumed orally, although it can be injected.

Designer drugs are illicit variation of other drugs. Because many different recipes are used to manufacture Ecstasy, deaths have been caused by some other substances inadvertently created during production such as PMA. Ecstasy is illegal, and is classified as a Schedule 1 Controlled Substance.

An Ecstasy high can last from six to 24 hours, with the average “trip” lasting only about three to four hours.

In moderate doses, Ecstasy is reported to cause euphoria, feelings of well being, enhanced mental or emotional clarity, anxiety, or paranoia. Heavier doses can cause hallucinations, sensations of lightness and floating, depression, paranoid thinking, and violent, irrational behavior.

Physical reactions can include the following symptoms: loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, blurred vision, increased heart rate and blood pressure, muscle tension and cramping, faintness, chills, sweating, tremors, insomnia, involuntary teeth clenching, convulsions, and loss of control over voluntary body movements. In addition, users are at particular risk of heat exhaustion and de-hydration due to physical exertion, particularly when Ecstasy is taken in a dance-party setting.

Deaths have occurred because users don’t drink enough water and then become overheated which leads to heat stroke and heart failure. Other permanent risks are brain damage that manifests itself in depression, anxiety, memory loss, and other neuropsychotic disorders.

Now you know…. The choice is yours!