Since we celebrated Valentine’s Day this week, we might as well talk about ecstasy. No, not that kind of ecstasy. The drug ecstasy. After all, this is a blog for Willow Springs. We’re not that kind of website.
Anyway, many people use ecstasy (MDMA) to feel good, but the side effects have an opposite effect. Using ecstasy can:
- Provide stimulating effects. Ecstasy is, after all, a stimulant. People on ecstasy may seem extremely alert or energetic or extremely friendly. It can also raise the heart rate and lead to problems with the heart and other organs, like the liver and the kidneys.
- Raise your blood temperature and make you sweat. This can be especially dangerous if you are taking ecstasy when you’re already in a warm environment, such as a crowded club.
- Give you the chills and dehydrate you.
- Dilate (enlarge) your pupils.
- Cause teeth clenching and grinding.
- Make your muscles cramp.
- Produce nausea.
As you can see, the physical toll of taking ecstasy can range from more minor annoyances to major health problems that can kill you. A temporary high is not worth all those problems.
And temporary is all your high will be. The effects of drugs don’t last forever, although some of the damage they create can be.
No one truly needs to use ecstasy as a recreational drug to improve their moods and their health. Using any substance recreationally for those purposes is also a slippery slope. Drugs are powerful substances. Our bodies are complex machines. Drugs and human bodies are also both notoriously unpredictable, so it’s impossible to say what using any one drug will do at any particular time.
Although this post might sound like a “Just Say No!” lecture about ecstasy and other drugs, it’s really just asking you to think about things.
