MDMA, politics and medical research: Have we thrown the baby out with the bathwater?
Journal of Psychopharmacology November 1, 2007 DOI: 10.1177/0269881107084738 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | MDMA |
| Keywords | Politics Psychoanalysis Criminology |
| Citations | 39 |
| Key points | Argues that political restrictions on MDMA research, exemplified by its Class A Schedule 1 status in the UK, threaten scientific objectivity and the pursuit of evidence-based clinical excellence. |
Abstract
3,4-Methylenedioxymethlyamphetamine (MDMA) has penetrated extensively into our culture in the last thirty years. It started life in medicine when adopted as a clinical tool by psychotherapists on the West Coast of America who used it as an alternative to the then banned LSD for facilitating interactions in couples’ therapy. From the therapist’s couch the drug leaked into public use, with a growing recreational use that eventually lead to its prohibition in the mideighties. As with LSD, the medical research on MDMA then stopped but its recreational use continued to grow especially in relation to the rave or party scenes so that by the nineties the drug was becoming demonized by politicians and parents alike. Although the politicians raved against the drug with a similar ferocity to those writhing on the dance floors, the doctors and pharmacologists argued among themselves about the short, medium and long-term dangers of MDMA. In the background, meanwhile, MDMA as a therapeutic tool disappeared from view. Exactly as with LSD before it, the drug had now drifted so far from its clinical origin for this to become forgotten. But are we missing something important by allowing the political agenda to hijack MDMA from science and medicine? Has the politicians’ single-minded demonization of all recreational drugs as ‘Of No Medical Use’ resulted in MDMA becoming an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire of the War on Drugs? After all, MDMA is not the first such drug that has been treated this way. Its prohibition as a class A schedule 1 drug in the UK severely restricts researching the compound on humans and illustrates a profound phenomenon that pervades the field of medical research: that current political restrictions on medical research threatens to undermine our scientific goals of objectivity and the search for evidencebased clinical excellence. In this paper we look at some of the features that make MDMA a potentially useful medical and research tool and asks that these be explored in a dispassionate manner – without the political agenda influencing the scientific argument.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on MDMA, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Differences Between the Mechanism of Action of MDMA, MBDB, and the Classic Hallucinogens. Identification of a New Therapeutic Class: Entactogens | 1986 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The Background and Chemistry of MDMA | 1986 | Historical analysis | |
| The origin of MDMA (ecstasy) revisited: the true story reconstructed from the original documents* Original documents in Merck's historical archive in Darmstadt, Germany, years 1900–1960 | 2006 | Historical analysis | |
| Distinct neural mechanisms for the prosocial and rewarding properties of MDMA | 2019 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| How could MDMA (ecstasy) help anxiety disorders? A neurobiological rationale | 2009 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cited by 23
- Increased oxytocin concentrations and prosocial feelings in humans after ecstasy (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) administration Social Neuroscience June 25, 2009
- A Review of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)-Assisted Psychotherapy Frontiers in Psychiatry March 20, 2019
- User perceptions of the benefits and harms of hallucinogenic drug use: A web-based questionnaire study Journal of Substance Use July 30, 2010
- The 21st century psychedelic renaissance: heroic steps forward on the back of an elephant Psychopharmacology August 23, 2017
- Psilocybin and MDMA for the treatment of trauma-related psychopathology International Review of Psychiatry April 3, 2021
and 18 more in the library
Cites 14
- Subjective Reports of the Effects of MDMA in a Clinical Setting Journal of Psychoactive Drugs October 1, 1986
- Hallucinogenic Amphetamine Selectively Destroys Brain Serotonin Nerve Terminals Science September 6, 1985
- Gender differences in the subjective effects of MDMA Psychopharmacology March 5, 2001
- Neurotoxicity of MDMA and Related Compounds: Anatomic Studiesa Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences October 1, 1990
- Human Pharmacology of 3,4-Methylenedioxymeth-amphetamine ("Ecstasy"): Psychomotor Performance and Subjective Effects Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology August 1, 2000
and 9 more in the library