The Germans describe it as Zusammengehorigskeitsgefuhl — the feeling you get from a chemical known as Methylenedioxy-methampthetamine, or ecstasy. This designer drug is said to cause a feeling of "warmth and love", and it can increase the drives for hunger, sleep, and sex. It only became popular in the 90's in the United States, but was initially manufactured by the German drug company Merck in the early 20th century as a therapeutic medication. Also known as "e", it spread from the Spanish island of Ibiza in the '80s and began to infiltrate the nightlife of Europe in the early nineties. "e" was a designer drug for the New York disco set in the mid '90s. In the last year or two, it hit the heartland of the U.S.

In 1999, a cache of 330,000 pills was intercepted in Trieste. In May, 500,000 pills were seized in San Francisco's airport. On July 26, in Los Angeles, a record 2.1 million tablets was seized in a sting operation. The drug costs pennies to make and sells for about $20 at schools, raves, nightclubs and parties. The U.S. Customs Service reports that it has seized 8 million doses in the last 10 months, more than twice the 3.5 million seized in 1999.

What makes ecstasy, or MDMA, so popular? For one thing, ecstasy is regarded by many users and some researchers as a relatively harmless social drug, which people use on the dance floor at clubs and parties. Its effects give it a reputation as a "happy" love drug, a sort of soma - like the drug in Huxley's Brave New World. People tend to ingest it in small doses, without experiencing addictive side effects and without hallucinating armies of orange spiders or other nightmares. The drug's users are more likely to take it with a pacifier in their mouth (to prevent the teeth from grinding) than a gun in their hands. It's not associated with the typical "drug addict" type. People are more likely to take it when they've found they've gotten into college than when they've dropped out at sixteen. They take it because they want to get happy, not because they need to get high. Those who have taken it, according to many published reports, say they usually associate it with good times, endless dancing, and flashing lights.

An American woman quoted in Time Magazine puts it this way: "I had always been aloof or insecure or snobby, however you want to put it. And I took it and realized, you know what, we're all here; we're all dancing; we're not so different. I allowed myself to get closer to people. Everything was more positive. But my life also became, quickly, all about the next time I would do it. There's no sense of freedom like it. You feel at ease with yourself and right with the world, and that's a feeling you want to duplicate—every single week."

But that's not the whole story. According to some experts, ecstacy can be dangerous. Ecstasy is similar to Prozac in that it manipulates the brain's serotonin level, which is the user's mood regulator. Serotonin also regulates body temperature. Heavy usage in a closed dancing environment can cause dehydration and high body temperature. Users who have taken the drug and danced for long periods of time without drinking water have passed out from dehydration or, in some rare cases, died. Some scientists maintain that there are also long-term neurotoxic side effects from ecstacy, such as memory loss, but these studies are not yet conclusive. Radical mood shifts can occur after usage, and some experience a depressive hangover after using ecstacy as "Terrible Tuesday".

The greatest danger posed to ecstacy users now exists in the form of adulterated tablets. According to an organization called DanceSafe, 40 percent of the tablets now sold in the U.S. are fake or adulterated with drugs such as the cough suppressant drug DXM, which can cause hallucinations or dehydration and heatstroke. Some of the pills sold only have asperin, caffeine, or other over-the-counter drugs. Combinations of DXM and MTMA can be particularly dangerous, and have caused several deaths.

Last year the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) placed MDMA on Schedule 1 of the federal Controlled Substances Act. Possession or sale of the drug can bring penalties of up to 15 years and $150,000. But that's not enough for some people. Bills are before the Senate (S. 2612) and the House (HR 4553) which would increase considerably the penalties and mandatory sentences for use of ecstasy.

On One Hand...

Ecstasy is a dangerous drug abused by a generation which has come to think that feeling love for one's fellow man is a "recreational" experience lasting three to five hours. Not only is that a fairly abhorrent, artificial approach to life; it's also a depressingly sporadic happiness, even for the heavy user. So it should come as no surprise that users of this disco drug have experienced acute depression and panic attacks once they come down from their high.

No drug that manipulates mood changes for recreational purposes should be allowed on the market. Ecstasy is the fastest-growing abused drug in the United States, largely because of the mistaken impression that its use is tolerated - and that its effects are negligible. But ecstasy has several side effects that make it a dangerous drug. First, there are indications that — unlike anti-depressant drugs — ecstasy manipulates serotin levels by permanently affecting the amount of that mood-manipulating drug. Men who are "coming down" from "e" were found in a study at Columbia University to be three times more likely to have unprotected sex than those who weren't on the drug. Finally, other possible side effects include long-term memory loss and cognitive impairment.

On the Other Hand...

Statistical evidence indicates that the risk of death from ecstasy is 100 times smaller than the risk of death from alchohol. Legalisation of ecstasy would reduce even that risk - placing the manufacture of the drug under government supervision would reduce the proliferation of adulterated tablets, many of which contain dangerous drugs. Current regulations have placed manufacture of ecstasy in the hands of drug lords and kingpins.

In 1985, one out of 360 Americans was in prison. Now, because of stricter sentencing and drug laws, one out of every 185 have been in prison. Increasing the sentencing requirements for ecstasy, which is a fairly popular drug used mostly by non-addicted users, will increase that percentage even more. Is this really how the government should react to an innocuous, non-addictive drug which at its worst makes people feel compatible and socially aware? Ecstasy is not necessarily the answer to all the world's problems, but it causes fewer problems - social or physical - than alchohol.

Finally, ecstasy has potential medical applications which deserve more research. Therapeutic use has been studied by cancer patients and psychotherapists. In the case of Sue Stevens, it helped a couple which was torn apart by her husband's case of cancer to fight his illness.

• "I looked at her sitting there and felt Love like I had not felt in almost two decades, she looked like an angel, so innocent and sweet, I had an overwhelming desire to just stroke her hair and touch her, not in any way sexual, but just to make her feel good and be close to her. " -from "E Made Me Bond With My Friend's Wife," from the Web site Ecstasy.org.

• "I was completely absorbed by the energy in "Riverdance" and subsequently experienced an out of body journey outside the galaxy, looking back at the intsense whiteness of the power of the human consciousness. My final thought was how we had evolved from "I think therefore I am" to "WE think therefore WE are." -from "A Father and a Daughter," from the Web site Ecstasy.org.

• "I don't think we're taling about [long prison sentences] for possessions in the amounts that -- users would have. I think we should examine seriously the need to increase sentences for importers, for distributors, for manufacturers." -Commissioner Raymond Kelly, U.S. Customs Service, on "Geraldo" show.

• The majority of people who end up in the E.R. after taking ecstasy are almost certainly not taking MDMA but something masquerading under its name. - "Time"

• Recent research findings link MDMA to long-term damage to those parts of the brain critical to thought and memory. It is thought that the drug causes damage to the neurons that use the chemical serotonin to communicate with other neurons. In monkeys, exposure to MDMA for 4 days caused brain damage that was evident 6 to 7 years later. - National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIH), Fact sheet #13547.

Ecstasy.org; Geraldo Rivera; Time; National Institute on Drug Abuse