K;k;K

3EcstasyCOMMON STREET NAMESX, XTC, E, Adam, Eve, Clarity,Stacy,Love drug,Lover’s Speed,HugDrug, Versace, Essence, Decadence, Dex, M&M, Roll, Bean,Bens, B-Bombs, Disco Biscuit, Go, Morning Shot, Scooby Snacks,Sweeties, Wheels.HISTORY AND LEGAL STATUSEcstasy, also known by its chemical name, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine(MDMA), was first synthesized in 1912 bychemists at the Merck pharmaceutical company in Germany, whowere searching for amphetamine analogues to use as new appetitesuppressants. These chemists also synthesized a similar drug called3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA), which, as it turns out, isan active metabolite of MDMA. As MDMA and MDA are veryclosely related to amphetamine and methamphetamine (Figure 3.1),Ecstasy is considered one of the original “designer drugs.”Merck patented MDMA and MDA in 1914, but World Wars Iand II sidetracked any further research on the drugs. Interest in thetwo drugs was revived in the 1950s by the U.S. military, but neverwent further than the animal testing stage.Ecstasy remained largely unused as a recreational drugthrough the 1960s and early 1970s. However, in the late 1970s, abiochemist at the University of California at Berkeley namedAlexander Shuglin was approached by a student who claimed tohave used MDMA to fix a stuttering problem. Shuglin decidedto synthesize the drug and take it himself. He wrote a scientific30