MDA (Methylenedioxyamphetamine) AKA THE LOVE DRUG; PSYCHEDELIC SPEED By D.E. Smith & R. Seymore of the Haight-Ashbury Free Medical Clinic from HIGH TIMES, April, 1985 CHARGES MDA has been judged by the federal government to be a drug with high abuse potential and no redeeming therapeutic value. It is a Schedule I controlled substance along with heroin and LSD. There have been reports of death and serious injury from high doses of MDA, but the reported incidents have often been the result of an interaction of multiple drugs, or were caused by other sub- stances sold as MDA on the illicit market.1 MDA and several of its close analogues, including MMDA and MDMA, are currently experiencing an upsurge in street popularity. They're used in Brazil as XTA or Ecstasy and here as ADAM. MDA belongs to a category of drugs known as psychotomimetic amphetamines, which combine the stimulant effects of amphetamines and the psychedelic effects of drugs like mescaline. Large doses of MDA elevate heart rate and blood pressure, and can cause an irregular heartbeat. Individual cases have been reported of cerebral aneurysm or stroke occurring after high-dose MDA ingestion (as a consequence of the elevated blood pressure), but in these cases the victims have been predisposed to stroke because of previous cerebral aneurysm or congenital defects of the blood vessels in the brain. In women, MDA may activate latent infections or other problems of the genitourinary tract.2 NATURE AND USE MDA is one of a family of drugs whose members are amphetamine analogs of the psychedelic drug, mescaline (methoxylated phenylethylamine). This group contains more than a thousand different but related chemical substances. Only a few dozen have been tested on human beings - a few hundred on animals. Among those known to us are: MDA, MMDA, DOM, DOET, TMA, DMA and DMMDA. All of these are similar in chemical structure and effect. They differ mostly in dosage and duration of effect. For example, MDA dosage is 100 to 150 milligrams and duration is eight to 12 hours, while DOM (known on the street as STP) is potent at five milligrams and can last from 16 to more than 24 hours. With the latter, the effects of a high dose can last so long, ebbing and returning, the user may think that they will never end. MDA and its analogues are synthetic, but related to safrole, which is contained in oil of sassafras and oil of camphor, and is the psychoactive agent in nutmeg and mace. They are produced by modifying the major psychoactive component of nutmeg and mace into their amines. MDA has been on the street since 1967, when it first appeared in the Haight-Ashbury drug culture.3 Descriptions of MDA's effects tend to sound like the fulfillment of a psychedelic user's fantasy. Users have reported the onset as a warm glow spreading through their bodies, followed by a sense of physical and mental well-being that gradually but steadily intensifies. Some have described a sense of increased coordination and an ability to do things they couldn't ordinarily do. Unlike most stimulants, however, MDA doesn't increase motor activity, but, in fact, suppresses it. Thus, consumers can sometimes sit in meditation, or do yoga and related activities, for long periods of time. For clinical subjects in a 1974 research program, MDA served as a appetite depressant.4 Some researchers (Grinspoon and Bakalar) have concluded that MDA produces feelings of aesthetic delight, empathy, serenity, joy, insight and self-awareness, without perceptual changes, loss of control or deper- sonalization; and seems to eliminate anxiety and defensiveness. "The user actually feels himself to be a child, and relives childhood experiences in full immediacy, while simultaneously remaining aware of his present self and present reality."5 MDA and MMDA showed great promise as an adjunct to psychotherapy in extensive research carried out in the late '60s and early '70s - most prominently by Claudio Naranjo6 and Alexander T. Shulgin.7 In the mid '70s, with MDA's inclusion as a Schedule I "narcotic," research on the methoxylated amphet- amines came to a standstill. HAZARDS AND LIABILITIES As is true with all psychedelic drugs, effects vary with expectation and setting. MDA is not the sort of drug to be taken with alcohol and downers or at wild parties. Its use can drain energy, leaving one tired and sluggish the next day. MDA may affect a woman's genitourinary tract, and may even activate latent infections and other problems. Women should be aware of this danger. It is reported to cause tension in the face and jaw muscles to the point of "bruxism," involuntary teeth grinding. At least one researcher (Weil) feels, however, that all these symptoms involve excessive dosage, poor setting or counterfeit drugs. Anxiety, panic and paranoid reactions occur but are rare. It should be noted that, in the case of MDA, the synthetic is more benign than the natural. Nutmeg and mace do have some psychoactive properties, but the aftereffects are dire enough to make these poor drugs of choice. Naranjo warns that MDA is toxic to certain individuals. Typical toxic symptoms are skin reactions, profuse sweating or confusion. Some of the more serious cases resulted in aphasia and, in one case, death. This serious neurological toxicity is a result of elevated blood pressure and effects on the brain associated with higher doses of MDA. FIRST-AID PLUS If such problems develop, medical care is required; anti- hypertensive medication and neurological care may be necessary. Anxiety, panic or paranoid reactions can usually be handled by reassurance in a supportive environment. Occasionally, sedative medication such a Vallium is recommended. Anti- psychotic medication is not needed unless a prolonged psychotic reaction occurs. This usually happens only in individuals who have major underlying psychological problems prior to taking MDA. In these rare cases, prolonged psychiatric care may be needed. REFERENCES 1. Grinspoon, Lester, M.D., and Bakalar, James B., Psychedelic Drugs Reconsidered, Basic Books, Inc. New York, 1979 2. Weil, Andrew, M.D., The Marriage of Sun and Moon: a quest for unity in consciousness, Houghton Mifflin company, Boston, 1980 3. Meyers, F.H., Rose, A.J., Smith, D.E., "Incidents Involving the Haight- Ashbury Population and Some Uncommonly Used Drugs," Journal of Psychedelic Drugs, vol. 1, no. 2, 1968 4. Stafford, Peter, Psychedelic Encyclopedia, And/Or Press, Berkeley, 1977. 5. Turek, I.S., Soskin, R.A., Kurland, A.A. "Methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA) Subjective Effects," Journal of Psychedlic Drugs, vol. 6, no. 1, January- March, 1974. 6. Naranjo, Claudio, The Healing Journey, Ballantine Books, New York, 1975 7. Shulgin, Alexander T., "MMDA," Journal of Psychedelic Drugs, vol. 8, no. 4, October-December 1976