For anyone who’s not taken MDMA, our legal team says don’t do it and second of all, its effects include feeling very fuzzy and relaxed and just, super friendly. It’s a bit like the few minutes after you orgasm or sneeze very hard and everything feels wonderful and you’re in love with the world. But for hours, and with more clamminess.
Anyway, scientists in the US have finally cottoned onto this – strict rules about MDMA mean that it was never quite legal enough to be researched, unlike substances such as LSD and ketamine – and have done the first study examining the therapeutic effects of pure MDMA on autistic adults.
The pilot study will look at just 12 autistic adults (to begin) and after some therapy, eight of them will begin to take a controlled dose of MDMA during therapy sessions, whereas four will be given a placebo. Researchers will look at whether the patients taking MDMA actually improve in terms of cognition and social interaction, then will put the other four onto actual MDMA to see how their reaction differs to that for the placebo.
The aim? To work out whether the relationship between the patient and their therapist improves and whether MDMA’s notable side effects, such as a heightened responsiveness to emotions, a boost in openness and increase in empathy and compassion, could pave the way for the drug to be reclassified for therapeutic use.
Eventually? Maybe MDMA will be afforded the same status as medicinal marijuana and have people all over the States feigning back pain or intense social awkwardness to get their hands on some pure, taxed mandy.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.