The History of MDMA
June 29, 2023
Torsten Passie
2 citations
From 1977, a small number of psychiatrists and psychotherapists used MDMA as an aid in psychotherapy, finding it suppressed the fear response and allowed patients to reprocess painful memories without the ego-disruption typical of other psychedelics. It was also applied in couple therapy, enabling communication free from anxiety-driven limitations. Therapists initially kept the substance secret, fearing it would share LSD's fate, but their research covered a few hundred patients with apparent success. The chapter recounts this early therapeutic history, describes five therapists and their work, and details the eventual scheduling of MDMA and the fate of FDA research protocols.
Nervenheilkunde
April 1, 2024
Torsten Passie
1 citation
Hanscarl Leuner (1919–1996) was the central figure of psycholytic therapy in Europe, which uses low doses of hallucinogens like LSD or psilocybin to loosen defense structures and access unconscious conflicts. Unlike psychedelic therapy, which relies on 1–2 high-dose sessions for mystical experiences, psycholytic therapy involves 5–25 substance applications embedded in long-term psychotherapy. The approach focuses on personal themes both during altered states and in regular sessions. This article outlines the fundamentals of psycholytic therapy and presents Leuner's research on its foundations.
The History of MDMA
June 29, 2023
Torsten Passie
1 citation
In 1984, the DEA proposed placing MDMA into Schedule I after learning of its broader distribution. Physicians using MDMA in therapy requested hearings, which were held in three U.S. cities before a DEA administrative law judge. The judge evaluated evidence on safety, medical use, abuse potential, and neurotoxicity, concluding MDMA should be Schedule III, not I. The DEA overruled its own judge and permanently placed MDMA into Schedule I in 1986. Before the hearings, the DEA had imposed emergency scheduling and successfully initiated international scheduling by the WHO, which nonetheless recommended allowing research on the substance.
The History of MDMA
June 29, 2023
Torsten Passie
1 citation
The history of research on MDMA toxicity includes early deaths and neurotoxicity studies, often compromised by biased methodologies. A notable scandal involved a Johns Hopkins researcher who mistakenly administered methamphetamine instead of MDMA to monkeys, falsely linking MDMA to Parkinson's disease. Later studies on recreational users found mixed results, but a study of Mormon subjects who used only MDMA showed no long-term cognitive effects. The chapter also discusses how research results have been used in anti-Ecstasy campaigns.
The History of MDMA
June 29, 2023
Torsten Passie
1 citation
The connection between drugs and dancing has existed since ancient times, with parallels between medieval 'dance epidemics' and modern MDMA use at dance parties. MDMA's synergy with dancing spontaneously emerged around 1983 when enthusiast Michael Clegg sold it in Texas nightlife, leading to its rapid spread as a 'dance drug'. From 1985, MDMA reached Europe via Ibiza's dance scene, where UK disc jockeys became enthusiasts and launched MDMA-fueled parties in London. The Netherlands, with tolerant drug policies and Amsterdam's trade, became a distribution hub. The text outlines musical style evolution, key events, and ravers' positive and negative experiences.
Frontiers in psychology
January 1, 2025
Andreas Huber, Anette Kjellgren, Torsten Passie
Dream-like and psychedelic experiences often seem internally illogical, but this may reflect a distinct, premodern mode of cognition called 'mythic' cognition rather than a cognitive deficit. Thirty-one participants underwent four 90-minute flotation REST sessions to induce altered, dream-like states. After each session, they completed the Phenomenology of Consciousness Inventory and additional questions targeting mythic cognition features. Participants showed significant phenomenological shifts toward experiences characteristic of mythic cognition, with altered states exhibiting ontological parallels to mythic conceptions of space, time, and substance. The findings suggest that the perceived illogicality in altered states arises from a distinct cognitive framework, not from deficits.
The History of MDMA
June 29, 2023
Torsten Passie
MDMA's popularity grew from the late 1970s onward, with first recreational use documented in Oregon. After human psychedelic research halted in the 1960s, the Association for the Responsible Use of Psychedelic Agents promoted MDMA's therapeutic use. The drug's recreational use expanded when a proselytizing aficionado began selling it in Texan bars and nightclubs, and larger-scale manufacturing by profit-seeking groups further stimulated demand. The chapter also covers 1985 press coverage and the role of the Indian guru Rajneesh in international distribution.
The History of MDMA
June 29, 2023
Torsten Passie
MDMA was first synthesized by the pharmaceutical company Merck during a search for an alternative synthesis of the blood-clotting agent hydrastinine, after the original synthesis had been patented by another company. Merck's chemists developed a complicated synthesis that produced MDMA as an intermediate. Although MDMA had no medical significance itself, Merck subsequently resynthesized MDA a few times for specific purposes and conducted animal experiments without discovering its effects on humans. Two common myths—that the chemist Fritz Haber first synthesized MDMA during his dissertation and that MDMA was developed as an appetite suppressant—are shown to be false.
The History of MDMA
June 29, 2023
Torsten Passie
Between 1986 and 2000, a range of activities advanced understanding and use of MDMA. This period began with the first scientific conference on MDMA in 1986 and the founding of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). It included the first books on MDMA, a NIDA study on different user groups, early human research in the 1990s, harm-reduction approaches for recreational use, studies on patterns of recreational use, and the first treatment study for PTSD. The narrative also details the struggle to gain approval for the first placebo-controlled therapeutic MDMA study in the United States and reviews the more significant human MDMA research from 1990 to 2000.
The History of MDMA
June 29, 2023
Torsten Passie
In the 1920s, physicians discovered that psychoactive substances could induce speech. The German Nazis first experimented with 'truth drugs' for interrogation. After American prisoners of war in the Korean war allegedly confessed to using biological weapons, the US Army suspected drug manipulation, triggering research into behavioral manipulation. Hallucinogens like mescaline and LSD were found mentally too 'irritating' for interrogations, shifting focus to less irritating euphoria-inducing substances like MDA. Research paused after an accidental death of an unwitting patient in an MDA experiment, leading to animal tests including with MDMA. Most documents from that period have been destroyed, but it seems unlikely MDMA was tested or used operationally on humans.
The History of MDMA
June 29, 2023
Torsten Passie
The American chemist Alexander T. Shulgin played a significant role in the rediscovery of MDMA in the 1970s. After a 1960 experience with mescaline, he synthesized and self-tested many psychoactive compounds. In the early 1960s he studied nutmeg chemistry, synthesizing MMDA from nutmeg oil in 1962. He first made MDMA in 1965 but did not test it then. Collaborating with psychiatrist Claudio Naranjo, they tested MDE and concluded it had no effect in small doses. In 1975 and 1976 Shulgin resynthesized MDMA, conducting self-trials. He gave MDMA to psychotherapist Leo Zeff in 1977, who distributed it to hundreds of therapists; knowledge of MDMA remained secret until a 1983 public conference.
Pharmacopsychiatry
August 31, 2009
Torsten Passie
A new classification of psychoactive substances is proposed, based on the idea that specific psychophysical activation and deactivation patterns are preformed in normal neurophysiological states such as hypnagogic states, postorgasmic states, and dreaming. These patterns can be activated by various means of altering consciousness, including different psychoactive substances. The classification draws on the author's experimental studies of altered states induced by hallucinogens and other methods, along with a comprehensive literature review. The model may have implications for psychophysiology, psychopharmacology, and addiction research.
Handbook of experimental pharmacology
January 1, 2018
Torsten Passie, Simon D Brandt
Scientists and therapists have a long tradition of self-experimenting with psychoactive substances, dating back to the mid-eighteenth century. Substances producing complex effects—such as altered space/time experience, ego dissolution, and heightened insights (e.g., hallucinogens, entactogens)—have been the focus of the vast majority of these self-experiments, while those producing simple effects like euphoria or emotional blunting (e.g., cocaine, opioids) are much rarer. Self-experimenters fall into two types: exploratory, seeking expanded awareness and insight, and compensatory, aiming to cope with psychiatric symptoms or personality deficits. Scientific limitations are clear compared to double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trials, and adverse effects include loss of objectivity, increased risk of addiction, isolation, and problematic group dynamics.