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FDA Approves Large Clinical Trial For Ecstasy As Relief For PTSD Patients (arstechnica.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved the first large-scale, phase 3 clinical trial of ecstasy in patients suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the New York Times reported. The regulatory green-light follows six smaller-scale trials that showed remarkable success using the drug. In fact, some of the 130 PTSD patients involved in those trials say ecstasy -- or 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) -- saved them from the devastating impacts of PTSD after more than a decade of seeing no improvement with the other treatment options available. Currently, the best of those established treatment options can only improve symptoms in 60 to 70 percent of PTSD patients, one expert noted. However, after one of the early MDMA studies, the drug had completely erased all traces of symptoms in two-thirds of PTSD patients. The new Phase 3 trial will involve at least 230 patients and is planned to start in 2017. Like the other trials, it is backed by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), a nonprofit created in 1985 to advocate for the medical benefits and use of psychedelic drugs, such as MDMA and marijuana. Also like the others, the new, larger trial will involve a limited number of MDMA treatments administered by professional psychotherapists as part of a therapy program. In previous trials, patients spent 12 weeks in a psychotherapy program, including three eight-hour sessions in which they took MDMA and talked through traumatic memories.
As long as I can CCW.
MDMA is a gateway drug
So is milk. You can fuck right off with that brain-dead argument.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
What is a "gateway drug"? You know why "gateway drugs" are leading to other drugs? Because the only way to get them is at some dealer who wants to sell you stuff that has a bigger cut for him.
MDMA a gateway drug for Heroin. Yeeeah, that makes sense. "Hey, I had this one drug that was allowing me to dance all night and party, why not try something now that makes me extremely drowsy and apathetic, that's exactly what I want."
C'mon. At least make some credible claims. I smoked some MJ and I even had a few Es back when they were still made of good stuff, but why the fuck would I have wanted to shoot some junk into my veins?
If you want to look for "gateways" to heroin, look at society. Society is what pushes people into the arms of drugs like heroin that promise an exit from this world.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
From the summary (no, I didn't read the article): "Currently, the best of those established treatment options can only improve symptoms in 60 to 70 percent of patients" and " the drug had completely erased all traces of symptoms in two-thirds of PTSD patients." To me, the 60 to 70 percent sounds very close to the two-thirds of patients (roughly 66.667%). So, this is better how?
Re-read what you wrote, and consider the difference between "improve symptoms" and "completely erase symptoms." IT's the difference between improvement and elimination.
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
...going on a drug trip is the cure? Might as well just get drunk, it's cheaper.
Liver cancer and alcoholism is cheaper? Please, do tell. Oh wait, let me get my boots on. I have a feeling the flow of bullshit is going to be rather high.
Dammit, I know I put my chest waders around here somewhere...
Well, the renal failure often associated with ecstasy isn't exactly cheap on its own. Seriously, the stuff has most of the side effects of meth. Unlike weed, it is one of drugs that is most definitely worse for you than alcohol is. The argument is, do the benefits outweigh the harm. But make no mistake, only an idiot would say it's not dangerous.
Pot is still considered "deadly" and has earned us the Incarcerated States of America moniker, and yet we legally support cigarettes and alcohol killing 550,000 Americans every year.
Oh, and let's not forget to thank Big Pharma for bringing good old fashioned opium back into fashion so elegantly, resulting in another 20,000 deaths annually.
MDMA looks like coffee when compared to current legal alternatives.
Why'd I want to switch from K to H?
Heroin is most of all a "get me out of here, no matter the cost" drug. I do not know a SINGLE person who reached for Heroin who wasn't already at the "I don't give a fuck about my life anymore" stage. It's not like people don't know what heroin does to them. You pretty much cannot NOT know what it really means to shoot that crap into your body. The problem is that people fully KNOW what's going on, and they STILL do it.
If you want proof for that, take a look at the drug Crocodile (Desomorphin). Do NOT Google it. Seriously. Do not. The pictures you'll see will stay with you for the rest of your life. That crap makes your body rot. Literally. You rot away alive. And people know that and STILL do it.
If you can keep people from getting to the point where they don't give a fuck about their life anymore, there simply is no longer a market for heroin. Or worse shit.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.