Ecstasy/MDMA

Description

It is usually classified as an ‘empathogen’, i.e. a drug which produces marked feelings of empathy or emotional understanding in and between individuals. The two names refer to the same drug (methylenedioxymethamphetamine which is shortened to MDMA) but are distinguished by the form that they are sold or found as. Commonly, MDMA is more associated with the powder/crystal form and therefore tends to be more potent, and ecstasy to the pill form, of which the purity varies immensely. Nowadays the names could be considered interchangeable, as MDMA pills are also widely found, but it is accepted that Ecstasy will almost always mean ‘pills’.