MDMA & Other Phenelthylamines

3, 4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, Ecstasy) was first synthesized in 1912 but remained in relative obscurity for many years. In the 1980s, MDMA gained popularity as a drug of abuse resulting in its final placement in Schedule I of the CSA. Today, MDMA is extremely popular among "rave" participants, and in 2000, it was estimated that two million tablets were smuggled into the United States every week.

MDMA produces both amphetamine-like stimulation and mild mescaline-like hallucinations. It is touted as a "feel good" drug with an undeserved reputation of safety. MDMA produces euphoria, increased energy, increased sensual arousal, and enhanced tactile sensations. However, it also produces nerve cell damage that can result in psychiatric disturbances and long-term cognitive impairments. The user will often experience increased muscle tension, tremors, blurred vision, and hyperthermia. The increased body temperature can result in organ failure and death.

MDMA is usually (distributed in tablet form and taken orally at doses ranging from 2 to 10 mg per kilogram, depending on the users body weight. Individual tablets are often imprinted with graphic designs or commercial logos, and typically contain 100 mg of MDMA. After oral administration, effects are felt within 30 to 45 minutes, peak at 60 to 90 minutes, and last for 4 to 6 hours. Analysis of seized MDMA tablets indicates that about 80 percent of all samples actually contain MDMA. About 10 percent of the MDMA-positive samples also contain MDA (3.4-methyl- enedioxyamphetamine), and MDEA (3.4-methyl-enedioxyethyl amphetamine), while another 10 percent contain amphetamine, methamphetamine, or both. Fraudulent MDMA tablets frequently contain combinations of ephedrine, dextromethorphan, and caffeine.

Many chemical variations of mescaline and amphetamine have been synthesized for their "feel good" effects. 4-Methyl-2,5-dimethoxyamphetamine (DOM) was introduced into the San Francisco drug scene in the late 1960s and was nicknamed STP; an acronym for "Serenity, Tranquility, and Peace." Other illicitly produced analogues include 4-bromo-2,5-dimethoxyamphetamine (DOB) and 4-bromo-2.5-dimethoxyPhenethylamine (2C-B or Nexus). In 2000, para methoxyamphetamine (PMA,) and para methoxymethamphetamine (PMMA) were identified in tablets sold as Ecstasy. PMA, which first appeared on the illicit market briefly in the early 1970s, is associated with a number of deaths in both the United States and Europe. In 2001, significant seizures of 2c-t-7 (dimethoxy-4-(n)-propylthiophenethylamide) and BZP (benzerpiperazine/and TFMPP Trifluoromethylphenolpiperazine) were made. BZP and TFMPP were sold in combination and promoted as MDMA-like or even as MDMA. Tablets are often very similar to MDMA tablets.

Hundreds of compounds can be produced by making slight modifications to the phenethylamine molecule. Some of these analogues are pharmaccologically active and differ from one another in potency, speed of onset, duration of action, and capacity to modify mood with or without producing overt hallucinations. The drugs are usually taken orally, sometimes snorted, and rarely injected. Because they are produced in clandestine laboratories, they are seldom pure and the amount in a capsule or tablet is likely to vary considerably.

TRAFFICKING

Commonly referred to as Ecstasy, XTC, Clarity, or Essence, 3, 4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is a synthetic psychoactive drug possessing stimulant and mild hallucinogenic properties. In the early 1990s, MDMA became increasingly popular among European youth. However, it is within the last five years that MDMA use in the United States has increased at an alarming rate.

MDMA is popular among middle-class adolescents and young adults. MDMA is increasingly becoming an abuse problem because many users view it as nonaddictive and benign. MDMA is sold primarily at legitimate nightclubs and bars, at underground nightclubs sometimes called "acid houses," or at all-night parties known as "raves."

MDMA tablets range in weight from 150 to 350 mg and contain between 70 to 120 mg of MDMA. The profit margin associated with MDMA trafficking is significant. It costs as little as 25 to 50 cents to manufacture an MDMA tablet in Europe, but the street value of that same MDMA tablet can be as high as $40, with a tablet typically selling for between $20 and $30.

Although the vast majority of MDMA consumed domestically is produced in Europe, a limited number of MDMA laboratories operate in the United States. Law enforcement seized 17 clandestine MDMA laboratories in the United States in 2001 compared to 7 seized in 2000. It should be noted that these laboratories were primarily capable of limited drug production. While recipes for the clandestine production of MDMA can be found on the Internet, acquiring the necessary precursor chemicals in the United States is difficult.

MDMA is manufactured clandestinely in Western Europe, particularly in the Netherlands and to a lesser extent in Belgium. Much of the MDMA is manufactured in the southeast section of the Netherlands near Maastricht. Despite the Dutch Government's efforts to curtail MDMA trafficking, the Netherlands remains a primary source country for the drug. International MDMA traffickers based in the Netherlands and Belgium, and a significant number of U.S.-based traffickers who coordinate MDMA shipments to major metropolitan areas of the United States sometimes use Montreal and Toronto as transit points. In December 2000, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) seized approximately 150,000 MDMA tablets in Toronto that had been shipped via DHL from Brussels, Belgium, by an Israeli MDMA trafficking organization. The shipment was destined for distributors in the United States.

Due to the availability of precursor chemicals in Canada, a number of MDMA laboratories have been discovered operating near metropolitan areas such as Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal. Such laboratories continue to supply U.S. and Canadian-based MDMA trafficking organizations. According to the RCMP, the total potential yield of MDMA from laboratories uncovered in Canada since 1999 is in excess of 10 million tablets.

Another emerging trend is the use of Mexico as a transit zone for MDMA entering the United States. During 2000, several seizures were reported in or destined for Mexico. In September 2000, Dutch authorities seized a 1.25 million-tablet shipment of MDMA destined for Mexico. Previously, in April 2000, a shipment of 200,000 MDMA tablets was seized at the airport in Mexico City. The MDMA was discovered in an air cargo shipment manifested as aircraft parts sent from the Netherlands and destined for the United States.

In recent years, traffickers have begun to tap the potential of the Caribbean and South America as alternative routes for moving synthetic drugs, predominantly MDMA, from Europe to the United States. The region's numerous and established drug transportation groups, extensive network of commercial flights, abundance of couriers, and historic connections to Europe provide traffickers with the means to route synthetic drugs through South America and the Caribbean to the United States. Available seizure and investigative information indicates that practically all of the MDMA transiting South America and the Caribbean is transported from Europe on commercial flights. Thus far the Caribbean has overshadowed South America as a transit zone for European MDMA destined to the United States.

USCS statistics show a dramatic increase in seizures of MDMA tablets. In FY 1997, approximately 400,000 MDMA tablets were seized compared to approximately 7.2 million tablets seized in FY 2001. On July 22, 2000, approximately 2.1 million tablets were seized in Los Angeles. To date, this is the largest seizure of MDMA tablets in the United States.