[cnp]

And that therapist has access to 100% _pure_ (and unfortunately illegal) MDMA.

This is one of the great tragedies of the war on drugs: UN member states are bound to the convention under law, so until this unjust (and unscientific) barrier is torn down it will always be dangerous and difficult to acquire for therapeutic purposes. But things, thankfully, are changing for the better.

[benevol]

It's the powers that be (money; pharmaceutical industry) who want these substances to remain criminalized, because these substances can be way more powerful and much cheaper than anti-depressants & Co. - and without destructive side-effects. So what MDMA, LSD, psilocybin and others can do is make people much healthier and the industry a tiny bit less rich, which is only in "the people's" interest.

[komaromy]

> and without destructive side-effects

You can mess up your serotonin levels for an extended period of time through MDMA abuse.

I guess that might be a direct effect rather than a side effect, but that doesn't seem to be your point.

[phkahler]

>> You can mess up your serotonin levels for an extended period of time through MDMA abuse.

You can do that with SSRIs too. You can also kill yourself with opioids. The problem is that MDMA isn't even available by prescription. The first I heard of it was on a TV special covering its use in therapy sessions - that was in the 1980s prior to the whole ecstasy fad. Why is this useful substance totally illegal, while much more harmful and addictive things are legal, available, and causing problems?

[tosstossy]

Abuse also causes be neurological damage from oxidative stress, in the raver scene sufferers of these effects are referred to as e-tards.

But abuse of anything can be harmful, that's kind of a defining qualification of the whole concept of abuse, isn't it?