It’s a truth universally acknowledged that any teenager desires to have fun. Everybody wants to have a good time, to enjoy themselves.
But do you need a drug to get you there? Is it true that a party can’t be a party unless everybody there is on ecstasy?
Let’s reconsider.
The Illusion
It’s wonderful. Ecstasy makes you feel more alive than you have ever been in your life in a world that has never been more beautiful or perfect. It brings an unexplainable, transcendent joy.
At first.
The party doesn’t last forever, and neither does ecstasy. The effects of ecstasy wear off in about 3-6 hours, leaving you depressed, achy, and tired, not to mention all the other effects of the drug.
Since ecstasy also causes tolerance, you will eventually need to take higher dosages to illicit the same effect as earlier doses. This brings an endless cycle of desiring, purchasing, experiencing a high, and enduring a hangover, only to start again.
The pursuit of ecstasy does not equal the pursuit of happiness. They may seem to be the same for the first few hours, but the pathway of ecstasy soon diverges and turns in the opposite direction.
The Rip Off
If you want ecstasy, be prepared to empty your pockets. Unless you’ve been prescribed or given the ecstasy, buying pills is never a “good deal” on your part—never one of those transactions when you can walk away feeling smug about the money you’ve saved.
Why? For two reasons:
It’s Expensive
The World Drug Report reports the ecstasy sales be to around $25 a pill. Somebody buying just one pill a week spends $100 a month. Chances are, once you start, you end up buying more and not less. Tolerance begins to develop and even psychological dependency—all leading to addiction.
It Could be Fake
According to the DEA, the quality of ecstasy has gone down and the strength of the pills has decreased over the years. Ecstasy pills are often mixed with amphetamine-like drugs (tenamfetamine, MDNA), or it could just be amphetamines and contain no ecstasy at all. Other times, the pill is a complete fake with no active ingredient at all.
The Risk
But you may say, “I’m not going to be taking it every week, much less every day—just once a while for an occasional high. Everybody is does it, and there’s no harm, no terrible expenses.”
Ecstasy Emergency Stats
- The number of ED visits involving MDMA increased 74.8% from 2004 to 2008 (10220 to17,865).
- 69.3% of ED visits involving Ecstasy in 2008 were made by patients aged 18-29.
–From the DAWN report (March 24, 2011)
Keep in mind, however, that ecstasy is addictive. It has a cost of more than just money and some hangover effects. Like all drugs, ecstasy enslaves. You become blind to everything else in life, focusing only on getting the next dose, desiring for the feeling that you think only ecstasy can give. In the pursuit of ecstasy, you may sacrifice other passions—hobbies, ambitions, relationships.
A post from a MDMA user at www.talktofrank.com describes her experience:
“My friends and I take MDMA regularly. . . Yes, it is a good feeling, but now when I’m not on it I am depressed. All my friends and family have noticed a change in my personality. I cannot remember the last time I was truly happy. I go to bed at night and think about it. I wake up and count how much money I have. I know what the feeling of MDMA is like, and I find it almost impossible to resist because it makes me feel that good.”
When you make the decision to start taking ecstasy, you are in a sense, gambling with your future. It’s not worth the risk.
What You Can Do
If you are considering taking ecstasy:
Don’t.
(Even if it’s offered to you free. Even when all your friends are doing it. There are plenty of other ways to have fun and to be happy—ecstasy is not one of them.)
If your friends are taking ecstasy:
- Help them realize that the price of ecstasy is not worth its effects.
- Inform them of the risks of taking ecstasy.
- Advise them to get professional help if necessary.
If you are taking ecstasy but are not addicted:
STOP!
Don’t allow ecstasy to get a secure foothold in your life; don’t wait for addiction. Never be over-confident and assume that you won’t get addicted—after all, nobody plans to be addicted. It’s not too late to fix the problem before it can get worse and prevent the consequences.
If you are addicted to ecstasy and want to stop:
- Make a personal and deliberate decision to stop.
- Seek professional help.
Duffy’s rehab center is a recovery center dedicated to helping those with addictions from alcohol to ecstasy. With a trained and caring staff, Duffy’s will guide and help you obtain a successful recovery.