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Comment by samhuk | Hacker News Reader

I see quite a number of comments making some very wildly inaccurate statements about the pharmacological safety of MDMA.

There have been a number of studies conducted about the health impact of MDMA. In monkeys, it has been shown to leave behind long-term brain damage, serotonin receptor damage for at least 7 years, etc.

Personally, back at University I had some acquaintances who got quite addicted to them and appeared to suffer the mental side-effects. It was really rough.

They are not safe. What they are:

* A potent drug

* Gives you a pretty sweet high (at a big enough dosage)

* Addictive (the addictive qualities of amphetamines has been known for decades)

Oxycontin, anyone?

Truly, I hope that these drugs are studied and science finds out which of these generally "taboo" drugs have great medicinal utility for certain ailments.

However calling these "super safe" is just like calling Oxycontin "super safe". It's a really bad take IMHO.

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How the hell do you even dare to lob MDMA in the same category as Oxycontin? I have seen pretty much every substance abused daily (amphetamines, different types of legal medication, alcohol, marihuana, heroin) by people I knew, but I have never met anybody that took MDMA on a daily basis or had a strong dependency on it.

Medics pretty much agree everywhere that MDMA is less addictive than alcohol which is in turn much less addictive than Oxycontin. I don't even know why you dragged that into the conversation. Oxycontin was never prescribed as much in Europe because every medic there already knew it had a huge addiction hazard.

You also do not have any sources to back up your claims. But feel free to clean up this Wikipedia entry if you feel it's wildly inaccurate: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MDMA

>> How the hell do you even dare

Comedown rage?

Haven't touched it in decades.

But dragging in misinformation to somehow associate MDMA with the ongoing opioid crisis in the US is completely messed up and pretty much how we ended up in this situation in the first place.

From the wikipedia link you posted:

> Long-term exposure to MDMA in humans has been shown to produce marked neurodegeneration in striatal, hippocampal, prefrontal, and occipital serotonergic axon terminals.[64][67] Neurotoxic damage to serotonergic axon terminals has been shown to persist for more than two years

> Impairments in multiple aspects of cognition, including attention, learning, memory, visual processing, and sleep have been found in regular MDMA users

> Serotonin depletion following MDMA use can cause depression in subsequent days. In some cases, depressive symptoms persist for longer periods.[7] Some studies indicate repeated recreational use of ecstasy is associated with depression and anxiety, even after quitting the drug.

There is more but anybody can just visit the link. LSD seems like a much safer option.

Do you have sources for that comparison of Opioides with MDMA?

I also couldn't find much studies on MDMA itself, as most such studies refer to some sort of pills, which are usually mixed with other drugs (e.g. Speed).

The Wikipedia article has a tonne of links to studies that link amphetamines to addiction, which is also a primary trait of opiates. Opiates also have negative side-effects with abuse, just like amphetamines.

They have many similarities.

> and extended use can also lead to addiction, memory problems, paranoia and difficulty sleeping

Etc.

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