Transcript Ecstasy

ECSTACY
Leia, Sam, Helen, Tara
What is Ecstasy?
Schedule 1 drug
 Stimulant
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Street names:
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Lover’s speed
Love pill
Elephant
Hug Drug
E
X
Cadillac
Scooby Snacks
How it Enters the Body
Pill form
 Injection
 Liquid
 Snorted
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Statistics
9 million Ecstasy users worldwide
 2007 National Survey on Drug Use and
Health:
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– 12 million Americans aged 12 or older tried
Ecstasy at least once in their lives
– 2.3% of 8th graders, 5.2% of 10th graders,
and 6.5% of 12th graders
– 92% of those who begin using Ecstasy later
turn to other drugs
History
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1912- developed by Merck (known as MDMA)
1953- US Army used drug in psychological
warfare tests
1960s- Psychotherapy medication to lower
inhibitions
1970s- became party drug
1980s- gained popularity
1984- still legal, sold as “Ecstasy”
1985- Ecstasy banned due to safety concerns
How People Get
Started:
 Parties
How People Get
Addicted:
 They like the feeling
(effect diminishes)
 The more you take
the drug the more
you like and get use
to it
 People continue to
take the drug despite
the feeling or effect
Short-Term Effects:
 Impaired judgment
 False sense of affection
 Confusion
 Depression
 Sleep problems
 Severe anxiety
 Paranoia
 Drug cravings
 Muscle tension
 Faintness & chills or
swelling
 Involuntary teeth
clenching
 Blurred vision
 Nausea
Long-Term Effects:
 Brain damage
 Nerve damage
 Depression, anxiety,
memory loss
 Kidney failure
 Hemorrhaging
 Psychosis
 Cardiovascular collapse
 Convulsions
 Death
Other
Sometimes mixed with substances such as
rat poison
 Can cause liver failure
 Can die from dehydration, exhaustion and
heart attack
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