missluckie, a lot of what you are writing about MDMA is true, that it doesn't cause many deaths, that it isn't as habit forming as other drugs like cocaine, and that deaths can be avoided. But your experience tells me what I believe is accurate: that drugs involve a lot more than just the specific effects of the chemicals.
I think it is different to say "if you take MDMA, take lots of water be careful" versus "I took ecstasy, it was awesome, no big deal, test your pills, you'll be ok"
Ecstasy causes other problems though, it is neurotoxic, it causes depression, and it is commonly adulterated. Maybe you can reduce your chances of it being adulterated if you test your pills, maybe you can emphasize that to people. In my experience, people buy those pill testers, and then they get high, and they just pop pills and buy more and pop them. That is what drugs do to people.
So what I think is, regardless of what the paper effects of ecstasy are, how people in certain precisely controlled lab settings, in real life, people commonly take ecstasy with other drugs, take ecstasy and hook up with people in ways that they usually wouldn't (either on the drug or afterwards), take a whole lot more ecstasy than you are supposed to.
You can say "if you do this, you are an idiot, and it is all your fault" but the thing is, the vast majority of people who use drugs end up the same place you and I did. I know plenty of responsible entheogenic erowid visiting smart drug users who have a rationalistic view of the dangers of drugs who started off smoking weed and taking acid and ended up smoking crack, doing oxycontin, etc.
I also do not really buy the concept that ecstasy is not addictive. It may not have the same addictive properties that heroin has, but when you use drugs that are as powerful as MDMA, it changes your whole life. It changes who you are as a person. Your interests change. Your values change. The way that you see the world changes. I have seen people go from being upper middle class geeks to driving down to new york city to buy thousands of pills. That is serious criminal stuff there. Ecstasy changes people, and you aren't going to find that in the science journals that measure everything in perfect laboratory conditions, you are going to find that in the brothels and where the weapons dealers hang out.
That is just the way that it is. If you are one of the ones who has made it through and not gotten into all of that, I'm happy that it didn't happen to you, but I wouldn't feel like you are being compassionate by "creating awareness" that if people just "use responsibly" everything will be ok. The reality is that if you use drugs, you bring everyone around you into it. You will start stealing from people at a certain point. It all depends on how far you want to go.
I hope that I didn't offend anyone.
I think it is different to say "if you take MDMA, take lots of water be careful" versus "I took ecstasy, it was awesome, no big deal, test your pills, you'll be ok"
Ecstasy causes other problems though, it is neurotoxic, it causes depression, and it is commonly adulterated. Maybe you can reduce your chances of it being adulterated if you test your pills, maybe you can emphasize that to people. In my experience, people buy those pill testers, and then they get high, and they just pop pills and buy more and pop them. That is what drugs do to people.
So what I think is, regardless of what the paper effects of ecstasy are, how people in certain precisely controlled lab settings, in real life, people commonly take ecstasy with other drugs, take ecstasy and hook up with people in ways that they usually wouldn't (either on the drug or afterwards), take a whole lot more ecstasy than you are supposed to.
You can say "if you do this, you are an idiot, and it is all your fault" but the thing is, the vast majority of people who use drugs end up the same place you and I did. I know plenty of responsible entheogenic erowid visiting smart drug users who have a rationalistic view of the dangers of drugs who started off smoking weed and taking acid and ended up smoking crack, doing oxycontin, etc.
I also do not really buy the concept that ecstasy is not addictive. It may not have the same addictive properties that heroin has, but when you use drugs that are as powerful as MDMA, it changes your whole life. It changes who you are as a person. Your interests change. Your values change. The way that you see the world changes. I have seen people go from being upper middle class geeks to driving down to new york city to buy thousands of pills. That is serious criminal stuff there. Ecstasy changes people, and you aren't going to find that in the science journals that measure everything in perfect laboratory conditions, you are going to find that in the brothels and where the weapons dealers hang out.
That is just the way that it is. If you are one of the ones who has made it through and not gotten into all of that, I'm happy that it didn't happen to you, but I wouldn't feel like you are being compassionate by "creating awareness" that if people just "use responsibly" everything will be ok. The reality is that if you use drugs, you bring everyone around you into it. You will start stealing from people at a certain point. It all depends on how far you want to go.
I hope that I didn't offend anyone.