I remember Spin magazine publishing a report in the last year or two saying that the quality/purity of Ecstasy has gone up compared to, say, 5-10 years ago. I am curious to see any unbiased confirmation of that. Reason: a friend thinks the recent science condemning the use of Ecstasy is flawed by retrospective research on users who may have been taking highly adulterated products.
Neither of us is interested in purchasing any illegal drugs. I merely want to refute her argument with evidence that what people are taking at raves and in clubs is probably “real” Ecstasy.
Since it is illegal to provide the quantity of MDMA in a pill, I doubt you will find very good research. You can check out http://pillreports.com, however they only provide qualitative comments. They may list other chemicals found in their pills, but they are unable to list the amounts.
As an ahem user I can give you my firsthand opinion…
The quality of Ectasy has gone down drastically as the popularity of the drug rose, so the number of fakes or adulterated pills went up.
It is rare these day to be able to find pills that are 100% MDMA they are usually mixtures or something else entirely. The fact is the purer the pills the LESS problems you are going to have. Because the kind of junk in adulterated pills range from caffiene, ketamine, PCP and other analogs of MDMA such as PMA and MDA.
Users can test the purity of their own pills very easily through “Regent” kits, whereby a single drop of the chemical on a sample of the pill will tell you how pure it is or if its MDMA at all by the change in colour, the speed of the change etc.
Most people are still taking “real” ecstasy, the problem is it isn’t pure or the content isn’t as high. It used to average out at about 100-120mgs per pill, now its done to about 70mgs. Which is why you get people with problems with dosing, because the average individual needs between 100-150mg to get the full effect, so some people need to dose two 70mg pills… but if those pills happen to be 120 mgs… but there is no way of directly telling.
Also, there is alot of anti-drug BS swimming around about Ecstasy same way with Marijuana (Reefer Madness type stuff). The number of deaths that can actually be attributed to Ecstasy is very very low, in the majority of cases, the deaths have been to what the users THOUGHT were ecstasy but in most cases was the very dangerous analog PMA. PMA has effects similar to Ectasy but a much much lower threshold of tolerance so overdosing on PMA litterally leads to your body cooking itself from the inside out. Most people can take 2 100mg ectasy tablets and not suffer any ill effects (although vomiting is likely) whereas 2 PMA tablets will likely kill you. Drug Dealers put PMA on the market because it is vastly easier to synthesize than MDMA.
I have taken what I believe was PMA before, because the effects are similar but not identical to true MDMA and luckily I only took one pill and suffered no lasting harm.
and you’ll see some of the latest results of pill-testing, which include everything from Methaphetamine to pure caffeine. While not anti-drug, the site does have the words “Warning! PMA and Multiple-Drug Combination Pills on the Rise!” posted above the chart.
Also, I might point out that none of the common adulterants are known to be toxic to the degree that MDMA appears to be. Meth may be, but not to the same neurons that MDMA is. Caffeine, ephedrine? Nah. DXM? Maybe, but again, different system.
No offense, but it sounds like your friend just wants to justify her ecstasy use to himself and others. The jury is still out, but there is much evidence that it ain’t good for you.
I gather from the range of responses that current purity/quality of ecstasy is uneven. Apparently popular opinion of Ecstasy’s safety is also still up for debate.
I did want to make it clear: my friend is not interested in taking Ecstasy but suspects the current furor over its use is misplaced. I’m not sure there is yet an unbiased opinion on its safety. It’s good to know that test kits are available and that PillReports makes an attempt to inform users about what’s in the currently available product.
I’m glad you haven’t noticed anything amiss yet about your recreational use of ecstasy. And, seriously, the firsthand info about the quality of the drug currently available is appreciated.
If you bother to read the literature, what the researchers are concerned about is your future health. You quite possibly could wind up with Parkinson’s disease. Or something else.
Maybe not important to you right now, but ask Michael J Fox how he likes getting cut down in the prime of life. (I’m not implying that Mr. Fox used the drug. Only that people might relate to a young person being impaired with a disease rather early in their life). Read the literature.
Reagent kits only test the presence of mdma, not the purity. The speed of reaction is not based on purity; it can be affected many things such as the binders or fillers, as well as other drugs.