Nine reasons why ecstasy is not quite what it used to be

This paper explores the recent resurgence in use of ecstasy/MDMA in Europe and highlights keys areas of continuity and divergence between the ecstasy market of the 1990s and the current MDMA market. Based on a scoping study involving a targeted multi-source data collection exercise on MDMA, it highl...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe International journal of drug policy Vol. 51; pp. 36 - 41
Main Authors Mounteney, Jane, Griffiths, Paul, Bo, Alessandra, Cunningham, Andrew, Matias, Joao, Pirona, Alessandro
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Netherlands Elsevier B.V 01.01.2018
Elsevier Science Ltd
Subjects
Availability
Change agents
Competition
Drug and Narcotic Control - methods
Drug and Narcotic Control - trends
Drug policy
Drug use
Ecstasy
Ecstasy drug
EMCDDA
Europe
Europe - epidemiology
Hallucinogens - economics
Hallucinogens - pharmacology
Humans
Innovations
Internet
Market
Markets
MDMA
N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine - economics
N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine - pharmacology
Production
Social Marketing
Stimulants
Substance-Related Disorders - economics
Substance-Related Disorders - epidemiology
Substance-Related Disorders - prevention & control
Supply & demand
Third generation
Europe
Ecstasy
EMCDDA
Market
Europe
MDMA
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Summary:This paper explores the recent resurgence in use of ecstasy/MDMA in Europe and highlights keys areas of continuity and divergence between the ecstasy market of the 1990s and the current MDMA market. Based on a scoping study involving a targeted multi-source data collection exercise on MDMA, it highlights nine areas that have undergone some level of change, linked with both supply and demand for the drug. Factors discussed include: innovation in production techniques; changes in precursor chemical availability; the role of online markets; competition with other stimulants and new psychoactive substances; the increased availability of high-strength MDMA; and the shift from subcultural towards more mainstream use of the drug. The paper proposes that the MDMA on Europe’s contemporary market is in some respects a third generation product with a different consumer profile, with implications that responses developed at the time of the drug’s earlier iteration, may be in need of a review and revamp.
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ISSN:0955-3959
1873-4758
DOI:10.1016/j.drugpo.2017.09.016