The Dangers of MDMA

The Problem and Why is it Important?

MDMA is one of the most common drugs found at student parties. It’s a substance most commonly used by young adolescents 18-25 and it is reported that around 4% have consumed this drug in the past year (Retrieved from National institute of drug abuse). The main issue with Ecstasy is that its widespread availability creates an illusion among young population that there is minimal risk in consuming the drug.

However, the dangers are various and great both for one-time consumption and chronic abuse. These include possible fatal outcome of a one-time use, caused by combination of hyperthermia and dehydration (Davidson, & Parrott, 1997; Matthai, Sills, Davidson, & Alexandrou, 1996). This is an important issue as some people might be tempted to “just try it once” without realizing the actual danger.

Another possibility that can lead to death is possible chemical impurities found in the taken dose (Hayner, 2002). This has recently happened to one of our fellow students at a party, prompting Warwick Uni to warn everybody about the specific pill that led to the student’s death.

Furthermore, various studies have proven the neurotoxicity of MDMA, which means, that if chronically abused, can lead to irreversible brain damage. Famous MDMA “come downs” include symptoms such as severe depression, sleep disturbance and heart issues (Parrott, 2001; Ricaurte, G. A., Yuan, J., Hatzidimitriou, Cord, & McCann, 2002).

Our intervention

Our intervention consists of two posters that we made in regard to negative effects and outcomes of MDMA. (We are really no fun at parties). We were aiming not only to raise awareness of this specific dangerous drug, but rather promote the idea of doing solid research before taking any substance for that matter. We hope to dissuade as many people as we can from ever taking seemingly harmless and fatally dangerous drug such as MDMA and help them develop a mindset that could prevent any future harm caused by all dangerous substances.

We were also interested in seeing how the people we reached out to would react to our posters (which route of persuasion they appreciate would have a higher chance of persuading them into not taking MDMA in future) and if they had previous knowledge of the information we provided.

Our target audience

Our target audience consisted mostly of other Warwick University students. This made most sense for the audience, as the drug is most commonly used by students at parties and concerts. And this was the audience most available for us to reach out to. Furthermore, this age group is most likely to be influenced by our persuasion and as students at Warwick, they are likely to consider the significance of evidence we presented to them. We also reached out to a general young population of non-students (people aged 18-25) who have increased chance of encountering the drug as well.

Psychological and Persuasion Techniques used

Elaboration Likelihood model (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986):

Central route of Persuasion– In the first poster, we focused heavily on hard evidence and strong arguments based on scientific papers, that irrefutably proves the dangers of MDMA. The strength and importance of points was put in the spotlight here, rather than the general appeal of the poster.

Peripheral Route to persuasion – In the second poster however, focus was shifted more towards the actual number of arguments, the look and feel of the poster. The points included in this specific poster relied on expert opinion and were presented in a simplified way with pictures.

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Last Thoughts

The people we reached out were mostly surprised by the sheer risks associated with MDMA. Most of them have never tried this specific drug in their life, but even those who have were mostly unaware of all possible negative outcomes. 

Participants who were university students mostly seemed to appreciate the poster that included central, rather then peripheral route to persuasions. Those who were not students preferred the second poster but were also interested in facts from the first one.

It seemed that most people were influenced, and their attitudes towards this drug had changed (even in those who previously had positive experiences with it).  

For possible future of this project, it would be interesting to reach out to people who we had already approached and ask whether they had the opportunity to try MDMA in the meantime and if they did. We would also be interested if our intervention caused them to avoid any other specific risky substances that they had contact with.

We would wish for this type of information (reliable evidence based on research) to be more readily available to younger populations. Furthermore, we would like to urge everyone to do their own research (even on this topic!) into any substance before taking it!

References

Davison, D., & Parrott, A. C. (1997). Ecstasy (MDMA) in recreational users: self‐reported psychological and physiological effects. Human Psychopharmacology: Clinical and Experimental, 12(3), 221-226.

Elk, C. (1996). MDMA (ecstacy): Useful information for health professionals involved in drug education programs. Journal of Drug Education, 26(4), 349-356.

Hayner, G. N. (2002). MDMA misrepresentation: An unresolved problem for ecstasy users. Journal of psychoactive drugs, 34(2), 195-198.

Matthai, S. M., Sills, J. A., Davidson, D. C., & Alexandrou, D. (1996). Cerebral oedema after ingestion of MDMA (“ecstasy”) and unrestricted intake of water. Bmj, 312(7042), 1359.

MP, R. H. J. S. (2008). ACMD.

National Institute on Drug Abuse. (n.d.). MDMA (Ecstasy/Molly). Retrieved from https://www.drugabuse.gov/drugs-abuse/mdma-ecstasymolly

Parrott, A. C. (2001). Human psychopharmacology of Ecstasy (MDMA): a review of 15 years of empirical research. Human Psychopharmacology: Clinical and Experimental, 16(8), 557-577.

Parrott, A. C. (2014). The potential dangers of using MDMA for psychotherapy. Journal of psychoactive drugs, 46(1), 37-43.

Ricaurte, G. A., Yuan, J., Hatzidimitriou, G., Cord, B. J., & McCann, U. D. (2002). Severe dopaminergic neurotoxicity in primates after a common recreational dose regimen of MDMA (" ecstasy"). Science, 297(5590), 2260-2263.

Talktofrank.com. 2020. Ecstasy | FRANK. [online] Available at: <https://www.talktofrank.com/drug/ecstasy#the-law>