"Ecstasy." In 1914 a German company called E. Merck issued a patent for it. The German chemist thought it might be a promising intermediary substance that could be used to develop more advanced therapeutic drugs. There is no evidence that any Merck employees or other Germans ever took MDMA during that time. MDMA virtually disappeared until 1953. At that time, the U.S. Army funded a secret animal study of 8 drugs including MDMA, as potential chemical weapons. Government research showed that MDMA was toxic only if it was taken in massive quantities. In the late 70's and early 80's, MDMA began to be used for psychotherapy purposes. It purportedly allowed clients to open up and discuss difficult and painful subjects. At that time Alexander Shulgin, a Dow biochemist, published the first scientific article about the drugs effect on humans. He later recalled, the drug "could be all things to all people." MDMA at the time was named "Adam" and psychotherapists gave it to approximately 4,000 patients to help them discuss traumas that they have been through. It was just a short time later that MDMA moved from psychotherapist offices to clubs. Manufacturers promoted Ecstasy as a legal drug lacking the hallucinatory effects of LSD and the addictive properties of coke and heroin. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration was completely caught off guard by the new drug. Using their discretionary powers, they promptly outlawed Ecstasy (MDMA) in 1985.
             Just as cocaine was popular in the 1980's because it produced a feeling of euphoria and a high, and was originally thought to be non-addictive (according to a psychology course taught at Santa Clara University in 1975), Ecstasy is popular today because it's known as the "hug drug" due to its gooey expressions of empathy. It, too, is thought to have few negative consequences and currently is believed to be non-addictive. About 3...