What is ecstasy?

By Sarah Schulz

"Ecstasy is a synthetic drug that comes in various tablet and capsule forms. The pills are different colors, shapes and sizes and are often stamped with a variety of designs such as crowns, animals, yin yangs, faces, hearts, car emblems, insects, company logos, question marks, cherries, superhero logos, the dollar sign or Christmas trees..."

"The drug has a variety of effects including extreme mood lift, increased talking, increased energy, feelings of comfort and belonging, increased awareness and senses, an urge to hug and kiss people, appetite loss, visual distortion, mild visual hallucinations, restlessness, strong desire to do more when coming down, inappropriate emotional bonding, tendency to say things you might be uncomfortable with later, difficulty concentrating, short-term memory loss, muscle tension, dehydration, nausea and vomiting, headaches and dizziness, mild depression and fatigue for up to a week."

"There are some severe but uncommon effects as well such as severe depression, psychological crisis, liver toxicity and a small chance of death..."

Full article available at http://www.theindependent.com/articles/2009/04/25/news/local/doc49f3aa2f...