Designer drugs: how dangerous are they?

What's in a label? Ecstasy sellers' perceptions of pill brands

This article presents selected findings from a qualitative study of Ecstasy sellers and their sales practices, knowledge of distribution networks, buyer-seller relationships, and self-reported drug use. In-depth interviews were conducted with 80 men and women who had sold five or more hits of Ecstasy five or more times in the six months prior to the interview. Study participants described their perceptions of the various types of Ecstasy they had distributed or used themselves. The participants had experience with a variety of Ecstasy labels, from the popular "Blue Dolphin" tablets to the powdered form called "Molly." We tracked pill brand mentions on Ecstasy-related websites to compare with interviewees' descriptions of Ecstasy brands. This study examines Ecstasy sellers' ideas about the role of brand names in Ecstasy markets and their relationship to their beliefs about different types of Ecstasy's purity and quality. We demonstrate that considering Ecstasy branding increases our understanding of buyer and seller relationships.

Reinforcing effects of methylenedioxy amphetamine congeners in rhesus monkeys: are intravenous self-administration experiments relevant to MDMA neurotoxicity?

RATIONALE

Many animal models relevant to the persistent effects of drugs of abuse necessitate the application of interspecies dose scaling procedures to approximate drug administration regimens in humans, but drug self-administration procedures differ in that they allow animal subjects to control their own drug intake.

OBJECTIVES

This report reviews the reinforcing effects of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), its enantiomers, and several structural analogs in rhesus monkeys, paying particular attention to the pharmacological mechanisms of such reinforcing effects, the development of structure activity relationships among these compounds, the stability of MDMA self-administration behavior over time, and the persistent effects of self-administered MDMA on monoamines.

RESULTS

The methylenedioxy amphetamine congeners MDMA, 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine, N-ethyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine, and N-methyl-1-(3,4-methylenedioxyphenyl)-2-butanamine function as reinforcers in rhesus monkeys, maintaining self-administration behavior greater than that engendered by contingent saline but less than that engendered by traditional psychostimulants. These findings are remarkable as structurally distinct serotonergic hallucinogen-like drugs do not maintain reliable self-administration in laboratory animals. During prolonged MDMA self-administration, MDMA-maintained responding progressively weakens, and MDMA eventually fails to maintain significant self-administration. The neurochemical correlates of this effect have not yet been identified.

CONCLUSIONS

Procedures in which MDMA and related compounds are self-administered can be established in rhesus monkeys. These techniques can be used to engender contingent MDMA exposure without resorting to controversial methods of interspecies dose scaling. As such, further application of self-administration methods may provide important new insights into the persistent effects of MDMA on brain and behavior in nonhuman primates.

3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) neurotoxicity in rats: a reappraisal of past and present findings

RATIONALE

3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is a widely abused illicit drug. In animals, high-dose administration of MDMA produces deficits in serotonin (5-HT) neurons (e.g., depletion of forebrain 5-HT) that have been interpreted as neurotoxicity. Whether such 5-HT deficits reflect neuronal damage is a matter of ongoing debate.

OBJECTIVE

The present paper reviews four specific issues related to the hypothesis of MDMA neurotoxicity in rats: (1) the effects of MDMA on monoamine neurons, (2) the use of "interspecies scaling" to adjust MDMA doses across species, (3) the effects of MDMA on established markers of neuronal damage, and (4) functional impairments associated with MDMA-induced 5-HT depletions.

RESULTS

MDMA is a substrate for monoamine transporters, and stimulated release of 5-HT, NE, and DA mediates effects of the drug. MDMA produces neurochemical, endocrine, and behavioral actions in rats and humans at equivalent doses (e.g., 1-2 mg/kg), suggesting that there is no reason to adjust doses between these species. Typical doses of MDMA causing long-term 5-HT depletions in rats (e.g., 10-20 mg/kg) do not reliably increase markers of neurotoxic damage such as cell death, silver staining, or reactive gliosis. MDMA-induced 5-HT depletions are accompanied by a number of functional consequences including reductions in evoked 5-HT release and changes in hormone secretion. Perhaps more importantly, administration of MDMA to rats induces persistent anxiety-like behaviors in the absence of measurable 5-HT deficits.

CONCLUSIONS

MDMA-induced 5-HT depletions are not necessarily synonymous with neurotoxic damage. However, doses of MDMA which do not cause long-term 5-HT depletions can have protracted effects on behavior, suggesting even moderate doses of the drug may pose risks.