The History And Potential Of MDMA

1A

NPR

News

4.3 • 4.5K Ratings

🗓️ 29 June 2023

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

MDMA, also known as ecstasy or molly, is illegal. It is listed as a Schedule 1 drug by the U.S. federal government (the same group as marijuana and psilocybin, or magic mushrooms).

In recent years, a growing body of academic research has suggested potential benefits of MDMA. One study found that MDMA-enhanced therapy dramatically reduced PTSD symptoms. Another showed that psychedelics like MDMA could reopen so-called critical periods of time when brains are especially impressionable and open to learning.

Rachel Nuwer's new book, "I Feel Love: MDMA and the Quest for Connection in a Fractured World," explores the history and potential of the so-called love drug.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm looking for Molly.
0:10.0	I've been searching everywhere and I can't seem to find Molly.
0:15.0	In 2013, the rapper Tyga had a hit on his hands when he sampled an earlier song by DJ
0:21.4	Sedrick Jervais.
0:22.4	They, or maybe their AI assistants, were looking for the drug Molly, also known as ecstasy or
0:28.9	MDMA.
0:29.9	In 2021, 2.2 million Americans did the same, including some of you.
0:35.9	When I did ecstasy for the first time, I understood exactly why it was called the Love Drug.
0:42.2	It should be studied for clinical fiability.
0:44.8	It should be used.
0:45.8	I have never felt such a healing after I have come off of something.
0:51.2	You will talk about things that you have been scared to talk about before.
0:56.1	You will deepen your connection and create lasting feelings and you'll also have the
1:01.3	time of your life.
1:02.6	MDMA users take the drug despite it being illegal.
1:06.4	But that could soon change.
1:08.5	MDMA therapy seems to sort of catalyze a process of self-healing where people then know
1:13.8	how to work with later stress and it seems to confer some form of resilience.
1:19.0	That was Dr. Emma Hapke, who's researching MDMA.
1:23.1	In 2017, based on evidence from clinical trials, the FDA granted breakthrough therapy
1:28.8	status, putting it on the fast track for approval.
1:32.1	That could happen within the year.
	...

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