Drugs

MDMA (Ecstasy)

Slang Names:

XTC, go, X, Adam, hug drug

Description:

Ecstasy is distributed in tablet form. Individual tablets are often imprinted with graphic designs or commercial logos, and typically contain 100 mg of MDMA.
Ecstasy is usually ingested in tablet form, but can also be crushed and snorted, injected, or used in suppository form.

Symptoms / Consequences:

In addition to chemical stimulation, the drug reportedly suppresses the need to eat, drink, or sleep.
When taken at raves, where all-night dancing usually occurs, the drug often leads to severe dehydration and heat stroke in the user since it has the effect of "short-circuiting" the body's temperature signals to the brain.
An Ecstasy overdose is characterized by a rapid heartbeat, high blood pressure, faintness, muscle cramping, panic attacks, and, in more severe cases, loss of consciousness or seizures. One of the side effects of the drug is jaw muscle tension and teeth grinding. As a consequence, Ecstasy users will often suck on pacifiers to help relieve the tension.
Ecstasy may cause hyperthermia, muscle breakdown, seizures, stroke, kidney and cardiovascular system failure, possible permanent damage to sections of brain critical to thought and memory, and death