Changing Perspective on MDMA

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MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy, is a drug that many people view as nothing more than a dangerous club drug that is overused by teenagers, with little to no positive side effects. Unfortunately, few people are aware of the potential benefits that ecstasy has when used in clinical psychology. After the psychological effects of MDMA were first discovered, psychiatrists often successfully used MDMA on their patients because of its tendency to lower people’s inhibitions. In time, many people began to abuse MDMA, which led the Drug Enforcement Administration to place it on the Schedule I list, making it illegal to use not only recreationally but also medically. Despite the 1988 Schedule I ruling, MDMA is currently in the process of undergoing clinical trials for treatment of PTSD, and has been successful in many cases. While this drug has been abused over the years, I argue that it also has proven to be beneficial in treating some types of mental disorders, such as PTSD, and should be made legally available again for certain therapeutic applications. I support changing the perspective on MDMA from a dangerous recreational drug to a beneficial therapeutic one.