The ecstasy and the agony

Here's one of the most bizarre stories I've read in a long, long time. According to the Guardian Online: "Doctors from London University have revealed details of what they believe is the largest amount of ecstasy ever consumed by a single person. Consultants from the addiction centre at St George's Medical School, London, have published a case report of a British man estimated to have taken around 40,000 pills of MDMA, the active ingredient in ecstasy, over nine years."

40,000 pills over nine years. Or, to put it another way: "At the peak, the man was taking an estimated 25 pills every day for four years."

That's... a lot.

Is it any wonder that the ecstasy has turned into agony? "Though the man, who is now 37, stopped taking the drug seven years ago, he still suffers from severe physical and mental health side-effects, including extreme memory problems, paranoia, hallucinations and depression. He also suffers from painful muscle rigidity around his neck and jaw which often prevents him from opening his mouth. The doctors believe many of these symptoms may be permanent."

Read on. It's an incredible story.

(Also, this article provides one of the best overviews of the effects of ecstasy I've ever read. It cuts through all the anti-drug propaganda and gets at what ecstasy is all about.)