Editing MDMA (section)

==History==
===Early research and use===
{{Multiple image
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| image1 = Merck MDMA Synthesis Patent.pdf
| alt1 = Merck MDMA synthesis patent
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| image2 = Merck patent for synthesizing methylhydrastinine from MDMA.pdf
| alt2 = Merck patent for synthesizing methylhydrastinine from MDMA
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| footer = German patents for MDMA synthesis and the subsequent methylhydrastinine synthesis filed by Merck on 24 December 1912 and issued in 1914
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MDMA was first [[chemical synthesis|synthesized]] and [[patent]]ed in 1912 by [[Merck KGaA|Merck]] chemist [[Anton Köllisch]].<ref name="Passie2023">{{cite book | last=Passie | first=Torsten | title=The History of MDMA | publisher=Oxford University Press | date=29 June 2023 | isbn=978-0-19-886736-4 | doi=10.1093/oso/9780198867364.001.0001 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KSvCEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA6 | pages=6–16, 18, 27, 29, 32, 40}}</ref><ref name="Bernschneider-ReifOxlerFreudenmann2006">{{cite journal | vauthors = Bernschneider-Reif S, Oxler F, Freudenmann RW | title = The origin of MDMA ("ecstasy")--separating the facts from the myth | journal = Pharmazie | volume = 61 | issue = 11 | pages = 966–972 | date = November 2006 | pmid = 17152992 | doi = | url = }}</ref> At the time, Merck was interested in developing substances that stopped abnormal bleeding. Merck wanted to avoid an existing patent held by [[Bayer]] for one such compound: [[hydrastinine]]. Köllisch developed a preparation of a hydrastinine [[chemical analogue|analogue]], methylhydrastinine, at the request of fellow lab members, Walther Beckh and Otto Wolfes. MDMA (called methylsafrylamin, safrylmethylamin or N-Methyl-a-Methylhomopiperonylamin in Merck laboratory reports) was an [[reaction intermediate|intermediate compound]] in the synthesis of methylhydrastinine. Merck was not interested in MDMA itself at the time.<ref name="Bernschneider-ReifOxlerFreudenmann2006" /> On 24 December 1912, Merck filed two patent applications that described the synthesis and some chemical properties of MDMA<ref name="DE274350">{{cite web|url = http://v3.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/originalDocument?CC=DE&NR=274350C&FT=D|title = German Patent 274350: Verfahren zur Darstellung von Alkyloxyaryl-, Dialkyloxyaryl- und Alkylendioxyarylaminopropanen bzw. deren am Stickstoff monoalkylierten Derivaten.|author = Firma E. Merck in Darmstadt|date = 16 May 1914|publisher = Kaiserliches Patentamt|access-date = 12 April 2009|archive-date = 28 August 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210828153545/https://worldwide.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/originalDocument?locale=en_EP&FT=D&CC=DE&NR=274350C|url-status = live}}</ref> and its subsequent conversion to methylhydrastinine.<ref name="DE279194">{{cite web|url = http://v3.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/originalDocument?CC=DE&NR=279194C&FT=D|title = German Patent 279194: Verfahren zur Darstellung von Hydrastinin Derivaten.|author = Firma E. Merck in Darmstadt|date = 15 October 1914|publisher = Kaiserliches Patentamt|access-date = 20 July 2009|archive-date = 28 August 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210828153659/https://worldwide.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/originalDocument?locale=en_EP&FT=D&CC=DE&NR=279194C|url-status = live}}</ref> Merck records indicate its researchers returned to the compound sporadically. A 1920 Merck patent describes a chemical modification to MDMA.<ref name="Passie2023" /><ref name="Shulgin1990">{{cite book | last=Shulgin | first=Alexander T. | veditors = Peroutka SJ | title=Ecstasy: The Clinical, Pharmacological and Neurotoxicological Effects of the Drug MDMA | chapter=History of MDMA | publisher=Springer US | publication-place=Boston, MA | volume=9 | date=1990 | isbn=978-1-4612-8799-5 | doi=10.1007/978-1-4613-1485-1_1 | url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-1-4613-1485-1_1 | access-date=15 May 2025 | pages=1–20 (2, 14)}}</ref>

MDMA's [[structural analog|analogue]] [[3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine]] (MDA) was first synthesized in 1910 as a [[chemical derivative|derivative]] of [[adrenaline]].<ref name="Passie2023" /> [[Gordon A. Alles]], the discoverer of the [[psychoactive drug|psychoactive]] effects of [[amphetamine]], also discovered the psychoactive effects of MDA in 1930 in a [[self-experiment]] in which he administered a high dose (126{{nbsp}}mg) to himself.<ref name="Passie2023" /><ref name="Alles1959a">{{cite book | author=[[Gordon A. Alles]] | chapter = Some Relations Between Chemical Structure and Physiological Action of Mescaline and Related Compounds / Structure and Action of Phenethylamines | veditors = Abramson HA | title = Neuropharmacology: Transactions of the Fourth Conference, September 25, 26, and 27, 1957, Princeton, N. J. | location = New York | publisher = Josiah Macy Foundation | date = 1959 | pages = 181–268 | oclc = 9802642 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=sDQLAQAAMAAJ&q=%22Some+relations+between+chemical+structure+and+physiological+action+of+mescaline+and+related+compounds%22 | chapter-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20250321230359/https://bitnest.netfirms.com/external/Books/NeuropharmacologyTrans.4.181#page=5 }}</ref><ref name="Alles1959b">{{cite book | author = [[Gordon A. Alles]] | chapter = Subjective Reactions to Phenethylamine Hallucinogens | title = A Pharmacologic Approach to the Study of the Mind | date = 1959 | publisher = CC Thomas | location = Springfield | pages = 238–250 (241–246) | isbn = 978-0-398-04254-7 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=x45rAAAAMAAJ | chapter-url = https://archive.org/details/pharmacologicapp0000univ/page/238/mode/1up}}</ref> However, he did not subsequently describe these effects until 1959.<ref name="BenzenhöferPassie2010">{{cite journal | vauthors = Benzenhöfer U, Passie T | title = Rediscovering MDMA (ecstasy): the role of the American chemist Alexander T. Shulgin | journal = Addiction | volume = 105 | issue = 8 | pages = 1355–61 | date = August 2010 | pmid = 20653618 | doi = 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2010.02948.x | url = }}</ref><ref name="Alles1959a" /><ref name="Alles1959b" /> MDA was later tested as an [[appetite suppressant]] by [[Smith, Kline & French]] and for other uses by other groups in the 1950s.<ref name="Passie2023" /> In relation to the preceding, the psychoactive effects of MDA were discovered well before those of MDMA.<ref name="Passie2023" /><ref name="BenzenhöferPassie2010" />

In 1927, Max Oberlin studied the pharmacology of MDMA while searching for substances with effects similar to [[adrenaline]] or [[ephedrine]], the latter being structurally similar to MDMA. Compared to ephedrine, Oberlin observed that it had similar effects on [[vascular smooth muscle]] tissue, stronger effects at the uterus, and no "local effect at the eye". MDMA was also found to have effects on [[blood sugar]] levels comparable to high doses of ephedrine. Oberlin concluded that the effects of MDMA were not limited to the [[sympathetic nervous system]]. Research was stopped "particularly due to a strong price increase of safrylmethylamine", which was still used as an intermediate in methylhydrastinine synthesis. Albert van Schoor performed simple toxicological tests with the drug in 1952, most likely while researching new stimulants or circulatory medications. After pharmacological studies, research on MDMA was not continued. In 1959, Wolfgang Fruhstorfer synthesized MDMA for pharmacological testing while researching stimulants. It is unclear if Fruhstorfer investigated the effects of MDMA in humans.<ref name="Bernschneider-ReifOxlerFreudenmann2006" />

Outside of Merck, other researchers began to investigate MDMA. In 1953 and 1954, the [[United States Army]] commissioned a study of [[toxicity]] and behavioral effects in animals injected with [[mescaline]] and several analogues, including MDMA. Conducted at the [[University of Michigan]] in [[Ann Arbor]], these investigations were declassified in October 1969 and published in 1973.<ref name="pmid4197635">{{cite journal | vauthors = Hardman HF, Haavik CO, Seevers MH | title = Relationship of the structure of mescaline and seven analogs to toxicity and behavior in five species of laboratory animals | journal = Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology | volume = 25 | issue = 2 | pages = 299–309 | date = June 1973 | pmid = 4197635 | doi = 10.1016/S0041-008X(73)80016-X | bibcode = 1973ToxAP..25..299H | url = http://www.erowid.org/references/refs_view.php?A=ShowDoc1&ID=639 | hdl = 2027.42/33868 | hdl-access = free | access-date = 19 April 2009 | archive-date = 21 October 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081021151006/http://www.erowid.org/references/refs_view.php?A=ShowDoc1&ID=639 | url-status = live }}</ref><ref name=Shulgin/> A 1960 Polish paper by Biniecki and Krajewski describing the synthesis of MDMA as an intermediate was the first published scientific paper on the substance.<ref name="Bernschneider-ReifOxlerFreudenmann2006" /><ref name="Shulgin"/><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Biniecki S, Krajewski E |title=Production of d,1-N-methyl-beta-(3,4-methylenedioxyphenyl)-isopropylamine and d,1-N-methyl-beta-(3,4-dimthoxyphenyl)-isopropylamine.|journal=Acta Polon Pharm|date=1960|volume=17|pages=421–5|language=pl}}</ref>

MDA appeared as a [[recreational drug]] in the mid-1960s.<ref name="Passie2023" /> MDMA may have been in non-medical use in the western United States in 1968.<ref name="Passie2023" /><ref name="Siegel 1986">{{cite journal | vauthors = Siegel RK | title = MDMA. Nonmedical use and intoxication | journal = Journal of Psychoactive Drugs | volume = 18 | issue = 4 | pages = 349–54 | date = October 1986 | pmid = 2880950 | doi = 10.1080/02791072.1986.10472368 | url = http://www.maps.org/images/pdf/1986_siegel_1.pdf | access-date = 11 August 2015 | archive-date = 4 March 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304090940/http://www.maps.org/images/pdf/1986_siegel_1.pdf | url-status = live }}</ref> An August 1970 report at a meeting of crime laboratory chemists indicates MDMA was being used recreationally in the Chicago area by 1970.<ref name="Shulgin"/><ref>The first confirmed sample was seized and identified by Chicago Police in 1970, see {{cite journal|vauthors = Sreenivasan VR|title = Problems in Identification of Methylenedioxy and Methoxy Amphetamines|journal = Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology, and Police Science|volume = 63|issue = 2|pages = 304–312|year = 1972|url = http://www.erowid.org/references/refs_view.php?A=ShowDoc1&ID=1149|doi = 10.2307/1142315|jstor = 1142315|access-date = 19 April 2009|archive-date = 21 October 2008|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081021200016/http://www.erowid.org/references/refs_view.php?A=ShowDoc1&ID=1149|url-status = live|url-access = subscription}}</ref> MDMA likely emerged as a substitute for MDA,<ref name="Foderaro 1988">{{cite news|vauthors=Foderaro LW|title=Psychedelic Drug Called Ecstasy Gains Popularity in Manhattan Nightclubs|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/12/11/nyregion/psychedelic-drug-called-ecstasy-gains-popularity-in-manhattan-nightclubs.html?pagewanted=2|access-date=27 August 2015|work=The New York Times|date=11 December 1988|archive-date=17 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117042408/http://www.nytimes.com/1988/12/11/nyregion/psychedelic-drug-called-ecstasy-gains-popularity-in-manhattan-nightclubs.html?pagewanted=2|url-status=live}}</ref> a drug at the time popular among users of psychedelics<ref name="Professor X"/> which was made a [[List of Schedule I controlled substances (U.S.)|Schedule 1 controlled substance]] in the United States in 1970.<ref name="Beck 1987">{{cite web|vauthors=Beck JE|title=Drug Abuse Series: MDMA|url=https://erowid.org/chemicals/mdma/mdma_info6.shtml|website=Erowid|publisher=Drug Abuse Information and Monitoring Project|access-date=6 August 2015|date=April 1987|archive-date=4 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150804125927/https://www.erowid.org/chemicals/mdma/mdma_info6.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=exploration/>

===Shulgin's research===
[[File:Shulgin sasha 2011 hanna jon.jpg|thumb|Alexander and Ann Shulgin in December 2011]]

American chemist and [[psychopharmacologist]] [[Alexander Shulgin]] reported he synthesized MDMA in 1965 while researching methylenedioxy compounds at [[Dow Chemical Company]], but did not test the psychoactivity of the compound at this time. Around 1970, Shulgin sent instructions for N-methylated MDA (MDMA) synthesis to the founder of a Los Angeles chemical company who had requested them. This individual later provided these instructions to a client in the Midwest. Shulgin may have suspected he played a role in the emergence of MDMA in Chicago.<ref name="Shulgin">{{cite journal | vauthors = Benzenhöfer U, Passie T | title = Rediscovering MDMA (ecstasy): the role of the American chemist Alexander T. Shulgin | journal = Addiction | volume = 105 | issue = 8 | pages = 1355–61 | date = August 2010 | pmid = 20653618 | doi = 10.1111/j.1360-0443.2010.02948.x }}</ref>

Shulgin first heard of the psychoactive effects of N-methylated MDA around 1975 from a young student who reported "amphetamine-like content".<ref name="Shulgin"/> Around 30 May 1976, Shulgin again heard about the effects of N-methylated MDA,<ref name="Shulgin"/> this time from a graduate student in a medicinal chemistry group he advised at [[San Francisco State University]]<ref name="Professor X"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Alexander 'Sasha' Shulgin |url=http://www.shulginresearch.org/home/about/alexander-sasha-shulgin/ |publisher=[[Alexander Shulgin Research Institute]]|access-date=8 January 2015|archive-date=20 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141220131529/http://www.shulginresearch.org/home/about/alexander-sasha-shulgin/|url-status=dead}}</ref> who directed him to the University of Michigan study.<ref name=PiHKAL/> She and two close friends had consumed 100{{nbsp}}mg of MDMA and reported positive emotional experiences.<ref name=Shulgin/> Following the self-trials of a colleague at the [[University of San Francisco]], Shulgin synthesized MDMA and tried it himself in September and October 1976.<ref name="Shulgin"/><ref name="Professor X"/> Shulgin first reported on MDMA in a presentation at a conference in Bethesda, Maryland in December 1976.<ref name="Shulgin"/> In 1978, he and [[David E. Nichols]] published a report on the drug's psychoactive effect in humans.<ref name="Passie2023" /> They described MDMA as inducing "an easily controlled altered state of consciousness with emotional and sensual overtones" comparable "to marijuana, to [[psilocybin]] devoid of the hallucinatory component, or to low levels of MDA".<ref name="isbn0-08-021938-1">{{cite book |vauthors=Shulgin AT, Nichols DE | veditors = Willette RE, Stillman RJ |title=The Psychopharmacology of Hallucinogens |publisher=Pergamon Press |location=New York |year=1978 |pages=74–83 |chapter=Characterization of Three New Psychotomimetics |isbn=978-0-08-021938-7 |chapter-url=http://www.erowid.org/references/refs_view.php?A=ShowDocPartFrame&ID=961&DocPartID=832 |access-date=4 January 2015 |archive-date=15 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130515124653/http://www.erowid.org/references/refs_view.php?A=ShowDocPartFrame&ID=961&DocPartID=832 |url-status=live }}</ref>

While not finding his own experiences with MDMA particularly powerful,<ref name=PiHKAL/><ref name="Dr. Ecstasy"/> Shulgin was impressed with the drug's disinhibiting effects and thought it could be useful in therapy.<ref name="Dr. Ecstasy"/> Believing MDMA allowed users to strip away habits and perceive the world clearly, Shulgin called the drug ''window''.<ref name=PiHKAL/><ref name="rising"/> Shulgin occasionally used MDMA for relaxation, referring to it as "my low-calorie martini", and gave the drug to friends, researchers, and others who he thought could benefit from it.<ref name=PiHKAL>{{cite book| vauthors=Shulgin AT, Shulgin A |author-link1=Alexander Shulgin|author-link2=Ann Shulgin|title=PiHKAL: A Chemical Love Story |date=1991|publisher=Transform Press|location=Berkeley, CA|isbn=978-0-9630096-0-9|edition=7th printing, 1st|chapter= Chapters 12, 22|title-link=PiHKAL}}</ref> One such person was [[Leo Zeff]], a psychotherapist who had been known to use psychedelic substances in his practice. When he tried the drug in 1977, Zeff was impressed with the effects of MDMA and came out of his semi-retirement to promote its use in therapy. Over the following years, Zeff traveled around the United States and occasionally to Europe, eventually training an estimated four thousand psychotherapists in the therapeutic use of MDMA.<ref name="Dr. Ecstasy">{{cite news|vauthors=Bennett D|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/30/magazine/30ECSTASY.html|title=Dr. Ecstasy|work=The New York Times Magazine|date=30 January 2005|access-date=10 February 2017|archive-date=17 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111117063356/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/30/magazine/30ECSTASY.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| vauthors=Shulgin A |author1-link=Ann Shulgin |veditors=Doblin R |editor1-link=Rick Doblin |title=The Secret Chief Revealed |date=2004|publisher=Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies|location=Sarasota, Fl|isbn=978-0-9660019-6-9|pages=17–18 |edition=2nd|chapter-url=http://maps.org/images/pdf/books/scr/scr.pdf|access-date=7 January 2015|chapter=Tribute to Jacob|url-status=dead|archive-date=16 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180916024833/http://www.maps.org/images/pdf/books/scr/scr.pdf}}</ref> Zeff named the drug ''Adam'', believing it put users in a state of primordial innocence.<ref name="Professor X">{{cite magazine|vauthors=Brown E|title=Professor X|magazine=Wired|date=September 2002|url=http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/10.09/professorx.html?pg=3&topic=&topic_set=|access-date=4 January 2015|archive-date=25 June 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150625015832/http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/10.09/professorx.html?pg=3&topic=&topic_set=|url-status=live}}</ref>

Psychotherapists who used MDMA believed the drug eliminated the typical fear response and increased communication. Sessions were usually held in the home of the patient or the therapist. The role of the therapist was minimized in favor of patient self-discovery accompanied by MDMA induced feelings of empathy. Depression, substance use disorders, relationship problems, premenstrual syndrome, and autism were among several psychiatric disorders MDMA assisted therapy was reported to treat.<ref name=exploration/> According to psychiatrist George Greer, therapists who used MDMA in their practice were impressed by the results. Anecdotally, MDMA was said to greatly accelerate therapy.<ref name="Dr. Ecstasy"/> According to [[David Nutt]], MDMA was widely used in the western US in couples counseling, and was called ''empathy''. Only later was the term ''ecstasy'' used for it, coinciding with rising opposition to its use.<ref name=Nutt/><ref name="pmid10450215">{{cite journal |vauthors=Milroy CM |title=Ten years of 'ecstasy' |journal=Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine |volume=92 |issue=2 |pages=68–72 |date=February 1999 |pmid=10450215 |pmc=1297063 |doi=10.1177/014107689909200206}}</ref>

===Rising recreational use===
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, "Adam" spread through personal networks of psychotherapists, psychiatrists, users of psychedelics, and [[yuppies]]. Hoping MDMA could avoid criminalization like LSD and mescaline, psychotherapists and experimenters attempted to limit the spread of MDMA and information about it while conducting informal research.<ref name="exploration">{{cite journal | vauthors = Pentney AR | title = An exploration of the history and controversies surrounding MDMA and MDA | journal = Journal of Psychoactive Drugs | volume = 33 | issue = 3 | pages = 213–21 | date = 2001 | pmid = 11718314 | doi = 10.1080/02791072.2001.10400568 | s2cid = 31142434 }}</ref><ref name=Eisner/> Early MDMA distributors were deterred from large scale operations by the threat of possible legislation.<ref name="Beck & Rosenbaum">{{cite book| vauthors = Beck J, Rosenbaum M |title=Pursuit of Ecstasy : The MDMA Experience|date=1994|publisher=State Univ. of New York Press|location=Albany|isbn=978-0-7914-1817-8|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SwdedK36bVMC|chapter=The Distribution of Ecstasy|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/pursuitofecstasy0000beck}}</ref> Between the 1970s and the mid-1980s, this network of MDMA users consumed an estimated 500,000 doses.<ref name=Current2013/><ref name="isbn0803936788">{{cite book| vauthors = Doblin R, Rosenbaum M | veditors = Inciardi JA |author-link1=Rick Doblin|title=The Drug Legalization Debate|date=1991|publisher=[[SAGE Publications]], Inc.|location=London|isbn=978-0-8039-3678-2|edition=2nd|chapter-url=http://www.drugtext.org/pdf/Dance/party-drugs-clubbing/why-mdma-should-not-have-been-made-illegal.pdf|access-date=10 August 2015|chapter=Chapter 6: Why MDMA Should Not Have Been Made Illegal|url=https://archive.org/details/druglegalization00inci}}</ref>

A small recreational market for MDMA developed by the late 1970s,<ref name="isbn9781847656414">{{cite book| vauthors = Collin M, Godfrey J |title=Altered State: The Story of Ecstasy Culture and Acid House.|date=2010|publisher=[[Profile Books]]|location=London|isbn=978-1-84765-641-4|edition=Updated new|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fc8x9qeCekQC|chapter=The Technologies of Pleasure}}</ref> consuming perhaps 10,000 doses in 1976.<ref name="Beck 1987"/> By the early 1980s MDMA was being used in Boston and New York City nightclubs such as [[Studio 54]] and [[Paradise Garage]].<ref>{{cite news|vauthors=Savlov M|title=Countdown to Ecstasy: A New Drug for a New Millennium|url=http://www.weeklywire.com/ww/06-12-00/austin_music_feature.html|access-date=6 August 2015|work=The Austin Chronicle|publisher=Weekly Wire|date=12 June 2000|archive-date=21 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160121022839/http://weeklywire.com/ww/06-12-00/austin_music_feature.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine| vauthors = Owen F, Gavin L |title=Molly Isn't Who You Think She Is: A Deeper Look at MDMA|url=http://www.playboy.com/articles/molly-party-drug-ecstasy|access-date=6 August 2015|magazine=Playboy|date=20 October 2013|archive-date=27 July 2015|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150727080003/http://www.playboy.com/articles/molly-party-drug-ecstasy |url-status=dead}}</ref> Into the early 1980s, as the recreational market slowly expanded, production of MDMA was dominated by a small group of therapeutically minded [[Boston]] chemists. Having commenced production in 1976, this "Boston Group" did not keep up with growing demand and shortages frequently occurred.<ref name="Beck & Rosenbaum"/>

Perceiving a business opportunity, Michael Clegg, the Southwest distributor for the Boston Group, started his own "Texas Group" backed financially by Texas friends.<ref name="Beck & Rosenbaum"/><ref>{{cite book| vauthors = Sylvan R |title=Trance Formation: The Spiritual and Religious Dimensions of Global Rave Culture|date=2005|publisher=Routledge|location=New York, NY|isbn=978-0-415-97090-7|pages=21–22|chapter=A Brief History of the Rave Scene}}</ref> In 1981,<ref name="Beck & Rosenbaum"/> Clegg had coined "Ecstasy" as a slang term for MDMA to increase its marketability.<ref name=rising/><ref name=Eisner>{{cite book|vauthors=Eisner B|author-link1=Bruce Eisner|title=Ecstasy : The MDMA Story|date=1994|publisher=[[Ronin Publishing]]|location=Berkeley, CA|isbn=978-0-914171-68-3|edition=Expanded 2nd|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8aqUu5M6UpwC|access-date=1 February 2016|archive-date=13 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230113000538/https://books.google.com/books?id=8aqUu5M6UpwC|url-status=live}}</ref> Starting in 1983,<ref name="Beck & Rosenbaum"/> the Texas Group mass-produced MDMA in a Texas lab<ref name=Eisner/> or imported it from California<ref name="rising"/> and marketed tablets using pyramid sales structures and toll-free numbers.<ref name="isbn0803936788"/> MDMA could be purchased via credit card and taxes were paid on sales.<ref name="Beck & Rosenbaum"/> Under the brand name "Sassyfras", MDMA tablets were sold in brown bottles.<ref name=Eisner/> The Texas Group advertised "Ecstasy parties" at bars and discos, describing MDMA as a "fun drug" and "good to dance to".<ref name="Beck & Rosenbaum"/> MDMA was openly distributed in [[Austin, Texas|Austin]] and [[Dallas–Fort Worth]] area bars and nightclubs, becoming popular with yuppies, college students, and gays.<ref name="Foderaro 1988" /><ref name="Beck & Rosenbaum"/><ref name="isbn0803936788"/>

Recreational use also increased after several cocaine dealers switched to distributing MDMA following experiences with the drug.<ref name="isbn0803936788"/> A California laboratory that analyzed confidentially submitted drug samples first detected MDMA in 1975. Over the following years the number of MDMA samples increased, eventually exceeding the number of MDA samples in the early 1980s.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Parrott AC | title = Is ecstasy MDMA? A review of the proportion of ecstasy tablets containing MDMA, their dosage levels, and the changing perceptions of purity | journal = Psychopharmacology | volume = 173 | issue = 3–4 | pages = 234–41 | date = May 2004 | pmid = 15007594 | doi = 10.1007/s00213-003-1712-7 | s2cid = 3347303 | url = http://psy.swansea.ac.uk/staff/parrott/p-IsEcstasyMDMA-Psychopharm-2004.pdf | access-date = 7 August 2015 | archive-date = 18 September 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150918181517/http://psy.swansea.ac.uk/staff/parrott/p-IsEcstasyMDMA-Psychopharm-2004.pdf | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Renfroe CL | title = MDMA on the street: Analysis Anonymous | journal = Journal of Psychoactive Drugs | volume = 18 | issue = 4 | pages = 363–9 | date = October 1986 | pmid = 2880953 | doi = 10.1080/02791072.1986.10472371 }}</ref> By the mid-1980s, MDMA use had spread to colleges around the United States.<ref name="Beck & Rosenbaum"/>{{rp|33}}

===Media attention and scheduling===
====United States====
[[File:Federal Register notice of planned MDMA scheduling.pdf|thumb|27 July 1984 Federal Register notice of the proposed MDMA scheduling]]

In an early media report on MDMA published in 1982, a [[Drug Enforcement Administration]] (DEA) spokesman stated the agency would ban the drug if enough evidence for abuse could be found.<ref name="Beck & Rosenbaum"/> By mid-1984, MDMA use was becoming more noticed. Bill Mandel reported on "Adam" in a 10 June [[San Francisco Chronicle]] article, but misidentified the drug as [[MMDA (drug)|methyloxymethylenedioxyamphetamine]] (MMDA). In the next month, the World Health Organization identified MDMA as the only substance out of twenty phenethylamines to be seized a significant number of times.<ref name="Eisner" />

After a year of planning and data collection, MDMA was proposed for [[Controlled Substances Act|scheduling]] by the DEA on 27 July 1984, with a request for comments and objections.<ref name=Eisner/><ref>{{cite journal|title=Schedules of Controlled Substances Proposed Placement of 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine in Schedule I|journal=Federal Register|date=27 July 1984|volume=49|issue=146|page=30210|url=http://maps.org/research-archive/dea-mdma/pdf/0194.PDF|access-date=15 January 2015|archive-date=4 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304002700/http://www.maps.org/research-archive/dea-mdma/pdf/0194.PDF|url-status=live}}</ref> The DEA was surprised when a number of psychiatrists, psychotherapists, and researchers objected to the proposed scheduling and requested a hearing.<ref name="exploration"/> In a [[Newsweek]] article published the next year, a DEA pharmacologist stated that the agency had been unaware of its use among psychiatrists.<ref>{{cite news |vauthors=Adler J, Abramson P, Katz S, Hager M |title=Getting High on 'Ecstasy' |url=http://www.maps.org/research-archive/hmma/Newsweek4.85.pdf |access-date=1 February 2015 |work=Newsweek Magazine |date=15 April 1985 |location=Life/Style |page=96 |archive-date=20 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160420122637/http://www.maps.org/research-archive/hmma/Newsweek4.85.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> An initial hearing was held on 1 February 1985 at the DEA offices in Washington, D.C., with administrative law judge Francis L. Young presiding.<ref name=Eisner/> It was decided there to hold three more hearings that year: Los Angeles on 10 June, Kansas City, Missouri on 10–11 July, and Washington, D.C., on 8–11 October.<ref name=exploration/><ref name=Eisner/>

Sensational media attention was given to the proposed criminalization and the reaction of MDMA proponents, effectively advertising the drug.<ref name=exploration/> In response to the proposed scheduling, the Texas Group increased production from 1985 estimates of 30,000 tablets a month to as many as 8,000 per day, potentially making two million ecstasy tablets in the months before MDMA was made illegal.<ref name=comprehensive>{{cite book| vauthors = Holland J | veditors = Holland J |title=Ecstasy: the complete guide; a comprehensive look at the risks and benefits of MDMA|date=2001|publisher=Park Street Press|location=Rochester, VT|isbn=978-0-89281-857-0 |chapter=The History of MDMA}}</ref> By some estimates the Texas Group distributed 500,000 tablets per month in Dallas alone.<ref name=rising/> According to one participant in an [[ethnographic]] study, the Texas Group produced more MDMA in eighteen months than all other distribution networks combined across their entire histories.<ref name="Beck & Rosenbaum"/> By May 1985, MDMA use was widespread in California, Texas, southern Florida, and the northeastern United States.<ref name="Siegel 1986"/><ref name="New York Times"/> According to the DEA there was evidence of use in twenty-eight states<ref>{{cite web|title=MDMA – FDA REPORT, 1985|url=https://www.erowid.org/chemicals/mdma/mdma_law3.shtml|website=Erowid|publisher=Food and Drug Administration|access-date=11 August 2015|date=1985|archive-date=11 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150811142554/https://www.erowid.org/chemicals/mdma/mdma_law3.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref> and Canada.<ref name="Siegel 1986"/> Urged by Senator [[Lloyd Bentsen]], the DEA announced an [[Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984|emergency Schedule I classification]] of MDMA on 31 May 1985. The agency cited increased distribution in Texas, escalating street use, and new evidence of MDA (an analog of MDMA) neurotoxicity as reasons for the emergency measure.<ref name="New York Times">{{cite news|title=U.S. will ban 'ecstasy,' a hallucinogenic drug|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/06/01/us/us-will-ban-ecstasy-a-hallucinogenic-drug.html|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=29 April 2015|date=1 June 1985|agency=The Associated Press|archive-date=24 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150524161818/http://www.nytimes.com/1985/06/01/us/us-will-ban-ecstasy-a-hallucinogenic-drug.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|vauthors=Baker K|title=DEA To Ban "Ecstasy" – The Drug MDMA|url=https://apnews.com/26214cd32a8b4c05e361158df14715b0|access-date=7 August 2015|agency=The Associated Press|date=30 May 1985|archive-date=31 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180831174744/https://apnews.com/26214cd32a8b4c05e361158df14715b0|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|vauthors=Corwin M|title=U.S. to Ban Use of Drug MDMA : Street Abuse Cited; Used by Psychiatrists|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-05-31-mn-14566-story.html|access-date=11 August 2015|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=31 May 1985|archive-date=17 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117032749/http://articles.latimes.com/1985-05-31/news/mn-14566_1_street-drugs|url-status=live}}</ref> The ban took effect one month later on 1 July 1985<ref name=comprehensive/> in the midst of [[Nancy Reagan]]'s "[[Just Say No]]" campaign.<ref>{{cite news|vauthors=Weber B|title=Alexander Shulgin, Psychedelia Researcher, Dies at 88|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/08/us/alexander-shulgin-psychedelia-researcher-dies-at-88.html?_r=0|access-date=28 August 2015|work=The New York Times|date=7 June 2014|archive-date=5 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905200423/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/08/us/alexander-shulgin-psychedelia-researcher-dies-at-88.html?_r=0|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|vauthors=Vastag B|title=Chemist Alexander Shulgin, popularizer of the drug Ecstasy, dies at 88|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/chemist-alexander-shulgin-popularizer-of-the-drug-ecstasy-dies-at-88/2014/06/03/19fd9580-eb34-11e3-b98c-72cef4a00499_story.html|access-date=28 August 2015|newspaper=The Washington Post|publisher=WP Company LLC|date=3 June 2014|archive-date=5 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150805104454/http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/chemist-alexander-shulgin-popularizer-of-the-drug-ecstasy-dies-at-88/2014/06/03/19fd9580-eb34-11e3-b98c-72cef4a00499_story.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

As a result of several expert witnesses testifying that MDMA had an accepted medical usage, the administrative law judge presiding over the hearings recommended that MDMA be classified as a [[Controlled Substances Act#Schedule III controlled substances|Schedule III]] substance. Despite this, DEA administrator [[John C. Lawn]] overruled and classified the drug as Schedule I.<ref name=exploration/><ref name=Harpers>{{cite news|title= Ecstasy has its pros and cons|newspaper= Kokomo Tribune|location= Kokomo, Indiana|date= 23 November 1985|page= 6|url= https://newspaperarchive.com/profile/Robert_Thomas/clipnumber/34618/|agency= Harper's Bazaar|via= newspaperarchive.com|access-date= 9 September 2017|archive-date= 28 August 2021|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210828153542/https://newspaperarchive.com/profile/robert-thomas-512557/|url-status= live}} {{free access}}</ref> Harvard psychiatrist [[Lester Grinspoon]] then sued the DEA, claiming that the DEA had ignored the medical uses of MDMA, and the federal court sided with Grinspoon, calling Lawn's argument "strained" and "unpersuasive", and vacated MDMA's Schedule I status.<ref>{{cite web |title=Lester Grinspoon, M.d., Petitioner, v. Drug Enforcement Administration, Respondent, 828 F.2d 881 (1st Cir. 1987) |url=https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/828/881/368975/ |website=Justia Law |publisher=US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit |access-date=9 October 2021 |archive-date=9 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211009212855/https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/828/881/368975/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Despite this, less than a month later Lawn reviewed the evidence and reclassified MDMA as Schedule I again, claiming that the expert testimony of several psychiatrists claiming over 200 cases where MDMA had been used in a therapeutic context with positive results could be dismissed because they were not published in medical journals.<ref name=exploration/> In 2017, the FDA [[#Research|granted]] [[breakthrough therapy]] designation for its use with psychotherapy for PTSD. However, this designation has been questioned and problematized.<ref name="Halvorsen 1689–1690">{{cite journal | vauthors = Halvorsen JØ, Naudet F, Cristea IA | title = Challenges with benchmarking of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy | journal = Nature Medicine | volume = 27 | issue = 10 | pages = 1689–1690 | date = October 2021 | pmid = 34635857 | doi = 10.1038/s41591-021-01525-0 | s2cid = 238636360 | url = https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03414583/file/Halvorsen%20et%20al%20-%202021%20-%20Challenges%20with%20benchmarking%20of%20MDMA-assisted%20psychotherapy.pdf | access-date = 9 May 2022 | archive-date = 22 May 2022 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220522022351/https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03414583/file/Halvorsen%20et%20al%20-%202021%20-%20Challenges%20with%20benchmarking%20of%20MDMA-assisted%20psychotherapy.pdf | url-status = live }}</ref>

====United Nations====
While engaged in scheduling debates in the United States, the DEA also pushed for international scheduling.<ref name=comprehensive/> In 1985, the [[World Health Organization]]'s Expert Committee on Drug Dependence recommended that MDMA be placed in Schedule I of the 1971 United Nations [[Convention on Psychotropic Substances]]. The committee made this recommendation on the basis of the pharmacological similarity of MDMA to previously scheduled drugs, reports of illicit trafficking in Canada, drug seizures in the United States, and lack of well-defined therapeutic use. While intrigued by reports of psychotherapeutic uses for the drug, the committee viewed the studies as lacking appropriate methodological design and encouraged further research. Committee chairman [[Paul Grof]] dissented, believing international control was not warranted at the time and a recommendation should await further therapeutic data.<ref>{{cite book|title=WHO Expert Committee on Drug Dependence: Twenty-second Report.|date=1985|publisher=World Health Organization|location=Geneva|isbn=978-9241207294|url=http://whqlibdoc.who.int/trs/WHO_TRS_729.pdf|access-date=29 August 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141019192225/http://whqlibdoc.who.int/trs/WHO_TRS_729.pdf|archive-date= 19 October 2014|pages=24–25}}</ref> The [[Commission on Narcotic Drugs]] added MDMA to Schedule I of the convention on 11 February 1986.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unodc.org/documents/commissions/CND/Drug_Resolutions/1980-1989/1986/CND_Decision-1986-07_S-IX.pdf |title=Decision to place MDMA into Schedule I |publisher=Commission on Narcotic Drugs |date=11 February 1986 |website=UNODC |access-date=9 May 2015 |archive-date=22 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150922000603/http://www.unodc.org/documents/commissions/CND/Drug_Resolutions/1980-1989/1986/CND_Decision-1986-07_S-IX.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Post-scheduling===
[[File:1995-04-08 Vibe Tribe 09 (10937582).jpg|thumb|A 1995 Vibe Tribe rave in [[Erskineville, New South Wales]], Australia being broken up by police. MDMA use spread globally along with rave culture.]]
[[File:Ecstasy - Is it Really the Dream Drug.ogv|thumb|A 2000 [[United States Air Force]] video dramatizing the dangers of MDMA misuse]]

The use of MDMA in Texas clubs declined rapidly after criminalization, but by 1991, the drug became popular among young middle-class whites and in nightclubs.<ref name="Beck & Rosenbaum"/> In 1985, MDMA use became associated with [[acid house]] on the Spanish island of [[Ibiza]].<ref name="Beck & Rosenbaum"/>{{rp|50}}<ref>{{cite news|vauthors=McKinley JC|title=Overdoses of 'Molly' Led to Electric Zoo Deaths|url=http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/12/overdoses-of-molly-led-to-electric-zoo-deaths/?_r=0|access-date=9 December 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|date=12 September 2013|archive-date=4 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131204085710/http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/12/overdoses-of-molly-led-to-electric-zoo-deaths/?_r=0|url-status=live}}</ref> Thereafter, in the late 1980s, the drug spread alongside [[rave culture]] to the United Kingdom and then to other European and American cities.<ref name="Beck & Rosenbaum"/>{{rp|50}} Illicit MDMA use became increasingly widespread among young adults in universities and later, in high schools. Since the mid-1990s, MDMA has become the most widely used amphetamine-type drug by college students and teenagers.<ref name="Goldfrank 2011">{{cite book| vauthors = Nelson LS, Lewin NA, Howland MA, Hoffman RS, Goldfrank LR, Flomenbaum NE |title=Goldfrank's toxicologic emergencies|date=2011|publisher=McGraw-Hill Medical|location=New York|isbn=978-0-07-160593-9|edition=9th}}</ref>{{rp|1080}} MDMA became one of the four most widely used illicit drugs in the US, along with [[cocaine]], [[heroin]], and [[Cannabis (drug)|cannabis]].<ref name=rising>{{cite news| vauthors = Jennings P |author-link1=Peter Jennings|title=Ecstasy Rising|work=Primetime Thursday|issue=Special edition|publisher=ABC News|date=1 April 2004 |url=http://www.thedocumentarygroup.com/PJP/Transcripts%20Files/Script_Ecstasy.doc |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150527163756/http://www.thedocumentarygroup.com/PJP/Transcripts%20Files/Script_Ecstasy.doc|archive-date=27 May 2015|df=dmy-all}}</ref> According to some estimates as of 2004, only marijuana attracts more first time users in the United States.<ref name="rising"/>

After MDMA was criminalized, most medical use stopped, although some therapists continued to prescribe the drug illegally. Later,{{when|date=January 2015}} Charles Grob initiated an ascending-dose safety study in healthy volunteers. Subsequent FDA-approved MDMA studies in humans have taken place in the United States in Detroit ([[Wayne State University]]), Chicago ([[University of Chicago]]), San Francisco (UCSF and [[California Pacific Medical Center]]), [[Baltimore]] ([[National Institute on Drug Abuse|NIDA]]–[[NIH]] Intramural Program), and [[South Carolina]]. Studies have also been conducted in Switzerland (University Hospital of Psychiatry, [[Zürich]]), the Netherlands ([[Maastricht University]]), and Spain ([[Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona]]).<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.maps.org/research/ | title = Bibliography of Psychedelic Research Studies. | work = Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) | location = Santa Cruz, CA | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131203011733/http://www.maps.org/research/ | archive-date=3 December 2013 }}</ref>

"Molly", short for 'molecule', was recognized as a slang term for crystalline or powder MDMA in the 2000s.<ref>{{cite web|title = What Is Molly and Why Is It Dangerous?|url = https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/what-molly-why-it-dangerous-n311291|vauthors = James SD|publisher = NBCNews.com|date = 23 February 2015|access-date = 23 February 2015|quote = Why is it called Molly? That's short for "molecule." "You can put a ribbon and bow on it and call it a cute name like 'Molly' and people are all in," said Paul Doering, professor emeritus of pharmacology at the University of Florida.|archive-date = 24 February 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150224063219/http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/what-molly-why-it-dangerous-n311291|url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| vauthors = Aleksander I |title=Molly: Pure, but Not So Simple|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/23/fashion/molly-pure-but-not-so-simple.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220101/https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/23/fashion/molly-pure-but-not-so-simple.html |archive-date=2022-01-01 |url-access=limited|access-date=24 February 2015|work=The New York Times|date=21 June 2013}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

In 2010, the BBC reported that use of MDMA had decreased in the UK in previous years. This may be due to increased seizures during use and decreased production of the precursor chemicals used to manufacture MDMA. Unwitting substitution with other drugs, such as [[mephedrone]] and [[methamphetamine]],<ref>{{cite news|url=http://scientopia.org/blogs/drugmonkey/2010/09/19/mephedrone-4-methylmethcathinone-appearing-in-ecstasy-in-the-netherlands/|title=Mephedrone (4-Methylmethcathinone) appearing in "Ecstasy" in the Netherlands|date=19 September 2010|access-date=31 December 2012|archive-date=5 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105125943/http://scientopia.org/blogs/drugmonkey/2010/09/19/mephedrone-4-methylmethcathinone-appearing-in-ecstasy-in-the-netherlands/|url-status=dead}}</ref> as well as legal alternatives to MDMA, such as [[Benzylpiperazine|BZP]], [[Methylenedioxypyrovalerone|MDPV]], and [[methylone]], are also thought to have contributed to its decrease in popularity.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8468372.stm|title=Why ecstasy is 'vanishing' from UK nightclubs|date=19 January 2010|work=BBC News|access-date=14 February 2010|archive-date=7 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170907220833/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8468372.stm|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 2017, it was found that some pills being sold as MDMA contained [[pentylone]], which can cause very unpleasant agitation and paranoia.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Bish J |title=Watch Out for Pentylone, the Horrible New MDMA Additive |journal=Vice |date=Aug 4, 2017 |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/watch-out-for-pentylone-the-horrible-new-mdma-additive/ |access-date=31 May 2018 |archive-date=1 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200901064627/https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/pagjxg/watch-out-for-pentylone-the-horrible-new-mdma-additive |url-status=live }}</ref>

According to [[David Nutt]], when [[safrole]] was restricted by the United Nations in order to reduce the supply of MDMA, producers in China began using [[anethole]] instead, but this gives [[para-methoxyamphetamine]] (PMA, also known as "Dr Death"), which is much more toxic than MDMA and can cause overheating, muscle spasms, seizures, unconsciousness, and death. People wanting MDMA are sometimes sold PMA instead.<ref name=Nutt>{{cite web | url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3cswgvh | title = Ecstasy on Prescription | work = BBC Business Daily | date = 29 May 2018 | access-date = 10 July 2021 | archive-date = 10 July 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210710093100/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3cswgvh | url-status = live }}</ref>

In 2025, the BBC reported on a study of 650 survivors from the [[Nova music festival massacre]]. Two-thirds were under the influence of recreational drugs (MDMA, LSD, marijuana or psilocybin) when Hamas attacked the festival on [[October 7 Hamas-led attack on Israel|October 7]], 2023. MDMA appeared to have a protective effect against later problems with sleeping and emotional distress.<ref name="a325">{{cite web |last=Williamson |first=Lucy |date=2025-03-07 |title=MDMA may have protected Nova attack survivors from trauma, study suggests |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9wpy14wyd0o |access-date=2025-03-16 |website=BBC Home}}</ref><ref name="x587">{{cite web |last=Burns |first=Brielle |date=2025-03-08 |title=MDMA and LSD may have helped October 7 survivors |url=https://www.news.com.au/world/middle-east/lsd-mdma-party-drugs-may-have-helped-survivors-of-october-7-attack-study-claims/news-story/361e7726844087d6d023f010bccf1c48 |access-date=2025-03-16 |website=news.com.au}}</ref>