ECSTASY

What is Addiction?

WHEN A PERSON IS ADDICTED, he doesn't control his drug use; his drug use controls him. When an addict loses the ability to make a rational choice about whether or not to use drugs or alcohol, he or she is addicted.

Addiction is a condition whereby a person experiences an irresistible urge to seek out and use drugs or alcohol despite negative physical and mental consequences.

Addiction is usually accompanied by physical and psychological dependence on the drug and the person suffers withdrawal symptoms when the drug is rapidly decreased or stopped.

To understand addiction, you must first understand drugs—what they are, the signs and symptoms of their use as well as the short-term and long-term effects of using drugs.

Hva er ecstasy?

ECSTASY IS A SYNTHETIC, PSYCHOACTIVE DRUG possessing stimulant and hallucinogenic properties. It was originally developed by Merck pharmaceutical company in 1912. In its original form it was known as MDMA.

Despite the cute logos dealers put on the pills, what makes Ecstasy particularly dangerous is that a user never really knows what he is taking. The dangers are increased when users increase the dose, seeking a previous high but not knowing they may be taking an entirely different combination of drugs.

Where Does Ecstasy Come From?

HIDDEN ILLEGAL LABORATORIES OPERATING THROUGHOUT WESTERN EUROPE, primarily in the Netherlands and Belgium, manufacture significant quantities of the drug in tablet, capsule or powder form. Although the vast majority of MDMA is produced in Europe, a limited number of MDMA labs operate in the United States.

In recent years, members of organized crime groups from Russia forged relationships with Western European traffickers and gained control over a significant share of the European market. These syndicates are currently the primary source for US distribution groups.

Overseas, MDMA trafficking organizations smuggle the drug in shipments of ten thousand or more tablets via express-mail services, couriers aboard commercial airline flights or, more recently, through air freight shipments from several major European cities to cities in the United States.

How It Is Used

ECSTASY IS FREQUENTLY USED IN COMBINATION WITH OTHER DRUGS. However, it is rarely consumed with alcohol, as alcohol is believed to diminish its effects. It is most often distributed at night clubs, rock concerts and at late-night parties called raves. As the rave and club scene expands to metropolitan and suburban areas, MDMA use and distribution are increasing as well.

MDMA is most often available in tablet form and is usually taken orally. It is also available as a powder and is sometimes snorted and occasionally smoked, but rarely injected. Its effects last approximately four to six hours. Users of the drug say it produces profoundly positive feelings, empathy for others, elimination of anxiety and extreme relaxation.

MDMA is also said to suppress the need to eat, drink or sleep, enabling users to endure two- to three-day parties. Consequently, MDMA use sometimes results in severe dehydration or exhaustion.

Consequences of Using Ecstasy

ECSTASY SMOTHERS THE NATURAL ALARM SIGNALS GIVEN OUT BY THE BODY. As a result, after taking the drug, an individual risks going beyond his physical limitations and endurance. For example, a person on Ecstasy may not realize that he has become overheated and can faint or even die of heatstroke.

A study by the University of Texas Center for Social Work Research found that the most frequently reported long-term effects of Ecstasy included depression and a reduced ability to concentrate. The researchers also found repeated use of Ecstasy to be associated with sleep, mood and anxiety disturbances; tremors or twitches; and memory problems.

Street Names

Effects of Ecstasy Use

WHILE THE SHORT-TERM EFFECTS OF ECSTASY MIGHT SEEM LIKE A LOT OF FUN to some naïve users, the drug is doing its destructive work from the first moment it is ingested. A surprising amount of damage can be quickly accumulated, including, of course, addiction. Some people become addicted to Ecstasy quite rapidly. Cravings to use more Ecstasy can drive a person back to use it again and again, even when they realize how much it is hurting them. One survey showed that nearly half the young people who reported Ecstasy use also showed signs of addiction.

What is harder to see is lasting psychological harm from taking Ecstasy. Recent research has shown that even a short exposure can cause problems that last for several weeks, such as memory loss, problems learning, confusion, anxiety and depression. Heavy users may also experience paranoia and sleep problems.

If Ecstasy is used repeatedly in a short time span, the damaging effects can be even more severe than if it is used only occasionally. It is common for those attending dance parties to take multiple pills at once or to take pill after pill to keep the sensation going.

Imaginary Love Pill

ECSTASY IS OFTEN CALLED THE LOVE PILL because it heightens perceptions of color and sound and supposedly amplifies sensations when a person touches or caresses another, particularly during sex.

But Ecstasy often contains hallucinogens, drugs that act on the mind and cause people to see or feel things that are not really there. Hallucinogens can throw a person into a scary or sad experience from the past, where he gets stuck without even realizing it.

The image of Ecstasy as a love pill is one of many lies that are spread about the drug.

Ecstasy is emotionally damaging and users often suffer depression, confusion, severe anxiety, paranoia, psychotic behavior and other psychological problems.

Identifying Ecstasy Use

ECSTASY IS A STRONG STIMULANT that often comes as small white or colored pills stamped with logos or words. Users may have lollipops or baby pacifiers to help with clenched jaw muscles caused by the drug.

Scientific Information

A great many studies have yielded these facts on Ecstasy.

• Taking Ecstasy can cause liver failure, as in the case of a fourteen-year-old girl who died of this, despite an attempt by doctors to save her with a liver transplant.
• Ecstasy is sometimes mixed with substances such as rat poison.
• Young people have died from dehydration, exhaustion and heart attack as a result of taking too much Ecstasy.
• Ecstasy can cause kidney, liver and brain damage, including long-lasting lesions (injuries) on brain tissue.
• Even a small amount of Ecstasy can be toxic enough to poison the nervous system and cause irreparable damage.

Is Ecstasy Addictive?

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. These users are aware of the dangers of the drug, but because of their physical and psychological dependence upon it are unable to stop using it. The psychological dependence occurs because a person gets used to, and desires more and more, the effects of the release of hormones it causes. This psychological dependence then gives rise to an additional physical dependence in which the brain itself becomes accustomed to the chemical reaction that Ecstasy produces, at which point the person is unable to function without frequent doses of Ecstasy.

But even if a user doesn't become addicted, the following very real dangers exist:

Molly: Another Form of Ecstasy

MOLLY (SHORT FOR MOLECULE) IS A NICKNAME FOR A FORM OF ECSTASY. It is promoted as a pure crystalline form of MDMA (Ecstasy), although it may contain other drugs as well. In the summer of 2013, a few well-known singers referred to the drug either in song lyrics or from the stage. When two people were suspected of dying after using Molly at a music festival in New York, this drug suddenly hit the spotlight. The last day of the music festival was cancelled out of concern for the drugs being used there.

A person using MDMA in any form is at risk for an overheating death. MDMA is a powerful stimulant that increases heart rate and body temperature. In a nightclub environment, users often have a chill room available, with plenty of cold water for sale.

They can cool down before they go back to dancing to prevent this overheating. But in an open-air environment in the summertime, a person may not be able to keep his body temperature down.

A dose of Molly lasts for four to six hours, which may lead some partygoers or festival attendees to redose repeatedly.

Identifying Molly Use

NIGHTCLUBS, MUSIC FESTIVALS AND OTHER MUSIC VENUES seem custom-built for drug use. In this environment, even a person who doesn't normally use drugs might indulge because everyone around him seems to be having a good time. But these strong stimulants and psychedelic drugs have disastrous effects on some people.

Molly is a strong stimulant that increases body temperature and causes one's heart to beat faster. The reaction to this stimulation can be seizures, high fever, organ breakdown and death.

One young woman had to be brought back to life twice. Her pulse was 165 beats a minute at one point and her temperature was 108 degrees. Severe physical and mental harm may be the result of what was just an attempt to party the night away.

Addictiveness and Risky Behavior

MDMA IS ADDICTIVE for some people the first few times they use it. Other people, after they use it just on weekends to party, may soon be driven to use it during the week because of the crushing depression that shows up a few days later. This kind of behavior quickly spirals into full-fledged addiction.

A person using MDMA, or Molly, may use poor judgment when it comes to sexual encounters. Because of the artificial sense of empathy the drug creates, some men at clubs or music festivals will give the drug to women so the women will feel like they love them and want to have sex with them. This feeling will be absent the next day, but if the woman becomes addicted, she will be driven to repeat this behavior.

As with any addiction, an obsession to get and abuse Molly will drag a person's entire life down. He is likely to abandon interests and goals and seek more drugs instead.

What Are Drugs?

MEDISINER ER EGENTLIG GIFTSTOFFER. Mengden som tas, avgjør effekten.

A small amount acts as a stimulant (speeds you up). A greater amount acts as a sedative (slows you down). An even larger amount poisons and can kill.

Dette gjelder for alle legemidler. Det er bare mengden som trengs for å oppnå effekten som er forskjellig.

Men mange rusmidler har et annet ansvar: De påvirker sinnet direkte. De kan forvrenge brukerens oppfatning av det som skjer rundt ham eller henne. Resultatet kan bli at personens handlinger blir merkelige, irrasjonelle, upassende og til og med destruktive.

Narkotika blokkerer også alle følelser, både de ønskelige og de uønskede. Så selv om de gir kortvarig smertelindring, tar de også bort evnen og årvåkenheten og gjør tankevirksomheten uklar.

Legemidler er medikamenter som skal få kroppen din til å fungere bedre ved å fremskynde, bremse eller endre noe ved måten kroppen fungerer på. Noen ganger er de nødvendige. Men medisiner er fortsatt narkotika: De virker stimulerende eller beroligende, og for mye av dem kan ta livet av deg. Hvis legemidler misbrukes, kan de være like farlige som ulovlige stoffer.

Om Narconon

NARCONON (MEANING "NO NARCOTICS") drug- and alcohol-rehabilitation program is open to all who desire to end their addictions and lead productive, drug-free lives. Narconon-programmet tar ikke bare tak i de ødeleggende virkningene av stoffmisbruk på kropp og sinn, men hjelper også til med å finne ut hvorfor en person begynte å ta stoff i utgangspunktet. Som et resultat av dette har titusener blitt uteksaminert fra Narconon-programmet til et nytt liv fritt for stoffmisbruk.

Utover rehabilitering av stoffmisbrukere har Narconons stoffforebyggende personale utdannet millioner av skolebarn. Narconon har mer enn femti års erfaring med opplysning om stoffmisbruk, og har vist seg å være effektive når det gjelder å holde unge mennesker borte fra stoff.

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