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That's not really true, MDMA in high doses does have dangerous acute effects which can be deadly (hyponatremia, hyperthermia). See f.e. Martha Fernback, Anna W
by tpm 10y ago
That's not really true, MDMA in high doses does have dangerous acute effects which can be deadly (hyponatremia, hyperthermia).
See f.e. Martha Fernback, Anna Wood. I mean even if you die from water poisoning or heart attack (at the age of 15), that would not happen if you don't ingest MDMA beforehand.
- taneq 10y agoOK, if you're a 45kg woman and you take six pills in an evening and then drink 10 liters of water, you'll die. If you get crushed in a crowd surge, you might die. Blaming those on MDMA specifically is usually fatuous though, even if it was a precursor. It's like saying that eating McDonalds is implicated in street racing deaths because some people who die in street races do so with McDonalds wrappers in the car.
- pyre 10y agoIf I take a drug that induces me to drink 10 litres of water, am I at fault for drinking 10 litres of water or does the drug have some culpability?
- oldmanjay 10y agoDrugs can't bear fault. They have no means of moral expression. The person who took the drug bears all culpability.
- loeg 10y agoI don't think you can blame MDMA for drinking 10L of water. I think that's entirely a socialized overreaction to the typical side effect of MDMA (not noticing you're overheating from constant activity in a crowded space).
- ZenoArrow 10y agoMDMA doesn't give you the level of thirst for water that you're describing. It does generally make you feel warmer than usual, but there are plenty of ways to cool down other than drinking water (drinking water helps, but going outside works too). Also, it doesn't have the same effect as alcohol on your sense of judgement, you can do stupid stuff on it but generally you're more aware of what's going on. That's not to say it's for everybody (people with heart defects probably shouldn't mess with it, and IIRC it can deplete serotonin in the long run if overused), but the main risks appear to come from those who take large doses and/or mix it with other drugs (through their own fault or by a dealer cutting it with something else).
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- tpm 10y agoWe can very well blame those deaths on MDMA, because the causality is clear. If you take six pills of anything that exists in pill form and you die, then assuming one pill is something of a standard dose, that means that chemical has a low therapeutic index and is therefore dangerous.
- montecarl 10y agoThis is actually not that different from the therapeutic index of paracetamol (Tylenol)[1]. Paracetamol is a super safe drug when used exactly as directed (both dosage and not taking with alcohol), but taking any more than prescribed can be fatal. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracetamol_toxicity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracetamol_toxicity
- tpm 10y agoExactly. Thankfully nobody is claiming that paracetamol is not killing people - quite clearly, it is. As is MDMA, even if it's quite safe (and fun) to use in most cases.
- s_q_b 10y agoWell... paracetamol is a modern day denaturing agent. Under DEA influence, paracetamol is included many opiate painkillers to "deter abuse."
- DanBC 10y agoDo you have a cite for that? Most combination meds try to get synergistic benefits - the combination allows you to use lower doses of both active ingredients. (This probably doesn't work, but that was the intent when the meds were created.)