What is MDMA: party drug or therapeutic agent?
At home in both weekend raves and the psychiatric ward, MDMA is not your typical street drug.
MDMA in pill form (ecstasy) and powder (molly). Credit: Flickr, Kripos NCIS.
MDMA, short for 3,4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine, is a psychoactive drug whose effects can resemble those of both stimulants and psychedelics. The drug is known to produce distortions in time and perception, enhance the enjoyment of sensory experiences, and make people feel more energized. Its defining feature is that it increases self-awareness and empathy, which together enable a feeling of connectedness that many users report.
In its tablet or capsule form, MDMA is known as
May 4, 2021
The popularization of psychedelics has already transformed the American mind. As tripping becomesnormalizedandlegal in the coming decade, the pace of change will only accelerate. There will be more openness to new ideas, both brilliant and insane. Commercial availability will also invigorate the market for synthetic religious experiences.
Having seen people gobble up hallucinogens in various contexts, I’m not particularly bothered by the substances themselves. The physical effects are negligible fatality rates are basically zero and many people derive real insight from their use. Certainly, a sizable minority become head-spun wackos, but compared to the utter devastation wrought by opiates, or even alcohol, it’s a peripheral concern.
From High Times, to facing prison, Matt Stang is now the CEO of a psychedelic company Stang says he lived through the tipping point with cannabis and something similar is happening with psychedelics.
Author of the article: Sam Riches
Publishing date: May 03, 2021 • 4 hours ago • 5 minute read Matt and Jackee Stang, the co-founders of Delic Corp. Photo by Delic Corp
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In 2010, Matt Stang was facing the possibility of spending the rest of his life in prison.
May 3, 2021Updated 6:55 p.m. ET
In an important step toward medical approval, MDMA, the illegal drug popularly known as Ecstasy or Molly, was shown to bring relief to those suffering from severe post-traumatic stress disorder when paired with talk therapy.
Of the 90 people who took part in the new study, which is expected to be published later this month in Nature Medicine, those who received MDMA during therapy experienced a significantly greater reduction in the severity of their symptoms compared with those who received therapy and an inactive placebo. Two months after treatment, 67 percent of participants in the MDMA group no longer qualified for a diagnosis of PTSD, compared with 32 percent in the placebo group.