Word: mdma
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Dates: during 1985-1985
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Others are not so sure. Ronald K. Siegel, a psychopharmacologist at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute, believes that reactions to MDMA are unpredictable , and not nearly so glowing as some therapists make out. Involuntary teeth clenching, biting of the inside of the cheek, increased sweating, blurred vision and fluctuations in blood pressure have occurred during clinical sessions, he points out. Says Siegel: "People are trying too hard to make this drug into the one that LSD was not -- a drug that is safe and effective and can be freely used and dispensed. MDMA...
...Massachusetts, Diane Watson, who was dying of cancer, took the drug under a doctor's supervision because she could not bring herself to discuss her illness with her family. Says she: "MDMA opened up a great emotional sharing." In another case, Kathy Tamm of San Francisco, who suffered from severe attacks of panic long after being raped, was able, while using Ecstasy, to confront her memories of the assault. As Tamm explained to her psychiatrist, "Not only did MDMA enable me to recover my sanity, it enabled me to recover my soul." Therapists who endorse MDMA say that it does...
...Chicago has found brain damage resulting from a single dose of MDA, a hallucinogenic nutmeg derivative related to Ecstasy; the two drugs "are believed to affect the brain in a similar manner," Haislip said. Federal officials say that drug-treatment programs around the country have reported "psychotic episodes" among MDMA users. Even the drug's most avid supporters concede that there should be some limits on MDMA. They hope to persuade the Government to place Ecstasy in a Schedule III classification, joining restricted drugs like codeine. Says Harvard Psychiatrist Lester Grinspoon: "The law would still have what it needs...
...promised to expedite registration procedures so that legitimate research into the drug can continue, although therapists will no longer be allowed to give it to patients. Supporters of MDMA will be able to press their case at a series of hearings beginning next week in Los Angeles...
Should they prevail, adherents would still have a problem. The formula for MDMA is available to anyone and cannot be repatented. Without the assurance of profits from exclusive production, no pharmaceutical company is likely to invest the millions of dollars it takes to test any drug for Government approval. Notes San Francisco Psychiatrist Jack Downing: "MDMA is an orphan that has nobody bidding to be its parent...