Urine specimens from 34 active-duty U.S. Army personnel who tested positive for amphetamines were reanalyzed. All samples contained both MDMA (ecstasy) and its metabolite MDA. MDMA concentrations ranged from 0.38 to 96.2 mg/L (mean 13.4 mg/L), and MDA concentrations ranged from 0.15 to 8.6 mg/L (mean 1.6 mg/L). The average ratio of MDA to MDMA was 0.15, similar to the ratio of amphetamine to methamphetamine (0.10). The presence of MDA at about 10–15% of the MDMA concentration is consistent with MDMA metabolism alone, suggesting use of only MDMA rather than combined use of both drugs.
About one in four regular meditators (25.6%) report having had particularly unpleasant experiences they attribute to their meditation practice. A survey of 1,232 regular meditators found that women and religious participants were less likely to report such experiences, while those with higher repetitive negative thinking, those practicing deconstructive meditation types (e.g., vipassana/insight meditation), and those who had attended a meditation retreat were more likely to report them. The findings suggest that unpleasant experiences are common and that meditation should not be viewed solely as a health-promoting technique; understanding when these experiences are constitutive elements of practice rather than mere negative effects could advance the field.