ecstasy

This is a bizarre bit of news – researchers and psychiatrists are giving the notorious rave drug “ecstasy” to veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and are asking the Department of Veterans Affairs to expand the program.

Does this mean that the VA hospital is going to start looking like a rave hall?

Not yet. While this may bring to mind glow sticks and pacifiers, the drug is being administered under controlled circumstances.

“It’s not going to be a normal prescription drug like the antidepressants,” says researcher Rick Doblin. “It’s only going to be administered under therapist supervision.”

“Patients would be required to spend the night in the facility. Our approach is catharsis, enhancing the psychotherapeutic interchange.”

Scientists say methylenedioxymethamphetamine produces an experience described as “inhibiting the subjective fear response to an emotional threat.” Read more…

Earlier in the year, we reported on Italians scientists that were studying the clubbing behavior rats on ecstasy.

At the time, we thought that Italy was the place to be if you got reincarnated as a lab rat. 

But those Italians scientists didn’t stop with giving rats ecstasy and exposing them to music at club noise levels.

Somehow, they got the funds to do additional research and this time they studied the sex lives of clubbing rats. 

And it turns out that raving rats, at least in Italy, have pretty lousy sex lives. In fact, a single dose of ecstasy, in combination with loud music, “notably impaired copulatory behavior of sexually experienced male rats”.

In fact, “combined treatment of MDMA and music stimulation did not fully restore normal sexual behavior as the animals reaching ejaculation still showed a marked reduction of copulatory efficiency.”

So, if you’re worried about your copulatory efficiency, and place any weight on scientific studies like this, you’ll want to avoid the “combined treatment of MDMA and music stimulation.” Read more…