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Ecstasy
Overdose
MDMA or ecstasy is a Schedule
I synthetic, psychoactive drug possessing stimulant and hallucinogenic properties.
Ecstasy possesses chemical variations of the stimulant amphetamine or methamphetamine
and a hallucinogen, most often mescaline. Illicit use of Ecstasy did not become
popular until the late 1980s and early 1990s. Ecstasy is frequently used in
combination with other drugs, which increases the users risk of an ecstasy overdose.
However, it is rarely consumed with alcohol, as alcohol is believed to diminish
its effects. Ecstasy is most often distributed at late-night parties called
"raves", nightclubs, and rock concerts. As the rave and club scene
expands to metropolitan and suburban areas across the country, ecstasy use and
distribution are increasing as well.
An Ecstasy overdose happens
when you consume more Ecstasy than your body can safely handle. Ecstasy users
are constantly flirting with drug overdose, and the difference between the high
they're seeking and serious injury or death is often quite small.
By November of 1995 50 to
60 individuals had died due to either an ecstasy overdose or dehydration because
of ecstasy. Occurrences of Ecstasy overdoses continue including 8 people in
Miami and 5 in Minneapolis/St. Paul. In Boston during the first three quarters
of 2000, Ecstasy was the most frequently
mentioned drug in telephone calls to the Poison Control Center.
Warning Signs of Overdose
- Feeling hot or unwell
- Becoming confused, not
able to talk properly
- Headache
- Vomiting
- Not Sweating
- Racing heart or pulse
when resting
- Fainting or collapsing
- Loss of control over
body movements
- Tremors
- Problems Urinating
An Ecstasy Overdose is
Characterized By:
- rapid heartbeat
- high blood pressure
- faintness
- muscle cramping
- panic attacks
- loss of consciousness
- seizures
- hypothermia
- muscle breakdown
- stroke
- kidney and cardiovascular
system failure
- permanent damage to sections
of brain critical to thought and memory
- death
Below is an excerpt from:
Ecstasy
Overdose Killed N.J. Student
Wednesday, December 12, 2001
By Ashanti M. alvarez & Tara Kane Staff Writers for the N.J. News
"An Ecstasy
overdose led to the death of a Pequannock High School senior who was found unconscious
at a Manhattan nightclub in August, New York City's medical examiner said Tuesday.
Michael Del Giudice, 18,
died of "acute intoxication from methylenedioxy-methylamphetamine,"
or MDMA, the drug commonly known as Ecstasy....
But taking Ecstasy causes
dehydration, which, coupled with intense body heat from dancing in a packed
environment and a lack of water, can easily lead to sickness and, in rare cases,
death.
New York's medical examiner,
however, determined that Del Giudice died from an Ecstasy overdose. The office
would not specify how much of the drug was found in his system....
A spokeswoman for the National
Institutes of Health said there is no specific amount of the drug that will
cause an overdose. Rather, a person's body weight and age are factors, as well
as simultaneous use of other drugs, including alcohol...."
Ecstasy, MDMA information
