It may be hard to believe for the average 21st century citizen living in an environment saturated with synthetically derived chemical products -- including pesticides, plastics and pretty much portable anything -- but a mere 200 years ago there weren't any! It wasn't until the early 19th century that scientists really got a handle on exactly how chemical structures could be "engineered" and then mass produced.

The first chemical to be synthesized was a minuscule little molecule called "urea" and, as teeny as it was, the little structure was stupendously significant. It marked a milestone in human achievement; for the first time a chemical only found in the human body, and one with active biological properties, was man-made in a laboratory, developed de novo from a distinct "parent" chemical structure.

That was in 1828. From those humble beginnings, by the middle of the century, millions of chemicals were being produced around the world. It wasn't long before chemists started to turn their attention to substances that could be used to manipulate human metabolism and, come the end of the 1800s, the first manufactured synthetic drugs were being marketed. The race was on to discover more and more ways to make more and more biologically active chemicals.

In 1912, the European drug company Merck, whose American subsidiary had only opened 20 years prior, filed for a patent for a drug called "methylsafrylamin" that was to be used to control bleeding. The patent was granted in 1914 and, although there were periodic attempts to develop the drug as a blood clotting agent, that was pretty much the last anyone ever heard of "methylsafrylamin" until the late 1950s, an exciting and propitious period for pill producers. The promise of miracle drugs elicited great admiration from the medical community. With the culture in awe as well, and the drug industry had matured to become a multibillion dollar business.

This was the time of The Red Scare, "commies-under-the-bed" and the Army-McCarthy Hearings. The Cold War was on every politician's mind and the US government, searching for ways to prevent a communist takeover of the world, became obsessed with the potential military applications of mind altering psychoactive drugs. Presumably, they were hoping these kinds of substances could be used to elicit secrets from enemy soldiers or perhaps as chemical weapons that could simply fry their brains. They were particularly fascinated with a natural compound called mescaline and its analogues. The most well-known of these analogues was none other than Merck's blood clotting drug methylsafrylamin, which by then had been rechristened "methylene dioxydimethylamphetamine" or MDMA. Unfortunately, much to the military's disappointment, the drug, which was tested on rats, dogs and monkeys, was found to have only mild effects on the animals and very little toxicity, so eventually the military lost interest in the chemical.

Within a couple of years however, university scientists caught wind of the research and soon became interested in checking out its effects on humans, which psychiatrists had begun to suspect could possibly make it useful as a therapeutic agent. It was psychoactive, non-toxic and cheap to manufacture, and it met all the criteria of a potential pharmaceutical blockbuster. Much of the buzz had been generated by a young medicinal chemist named Alexander Shulgin who had first synthesized MDMA as an academic project in the early 1960's. Shulgin had a psychiatrist friend named Leo Zeff who had been using the drug in small doses on patients as a treatment aid to facilitate healing from depression, neurosis and other mental disorders. Zeff's results were so positive that he began calling the substance "Adam" because he believed it returned his patients to a state of pre-neurotic, primordial, mental innocence.

By the 1970s both Zeff and Shulgin began actively proselytizing MDMA to hundreds of psychologists around the country. They, as well as many other therapists, were struck by MDMA's ability to foster communication, increase empathy and create a general sense of love and well-being. Soon there followed a series of research papers in medical journals, almost all of them concluding that MDMA might be a useful therapeutic solution for various unrelated health challenges including psychosis, neurosis, hospice care and addiction treatment.

It wasn't long before the rave reviews caught the attention of college kids who began using the drug recreationally. By 1984 the drug had become so popular that its rampant use was becoming impossible to ignore. It was being sold openly in bars and night clubs and college dorms and when a Catholic seminary student named Mitchell Clegg, whose experiences with the drug were so spiritual he called it "ecstasy", began selling the stuff, (via an 800 number, no less!) the DEA exercised its emergency powers and immediately banned MDMA. By 1988, over the vociferous objections of therapists, researchers and academicians, MDMA had become a Schedule One controlled substance, joining heroin and LSD as drugs that were deemed to have no known medical value.

Since that time MDMA's timeline has run along two parallel paths. One taken by researchers who have continued to actively explore its psychotherapeutic potential, and a second taken by regular folks, mostly teenagers and young adults, who appreciate the drug for its positive effects on relationships and rapport, as well as its amphetamine-like ability to allow users to "trip the light fantastic" all night long, sometimes into the next morning and, reportedly anyway, for days at a time.

The mechanism of MDMA's activity has been extensively studied; as far its biochemistry goes, we know a lot about it! Although MDMA can affect all bodily systems including those involving digestion, muscle function and circulation, it is the quintessential brain drug. Its mechanism of action involves stimulating the release of brain chemicals like serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine, which are involved in stimulating areas of the brains associated with sociability, enhanced mood and a sense of well-being. One of the most interesting aspects of MDMA chemistry is the fact that it inhibits its own metabolism. Effects of a second dose taken several hours after a first are greater than would be expected by simple accumulation and indicates an inhibition of MDMA breakdown by MDMA itself, a phenomenon that may indicate potential long-term toxicity among frequent users.

For the occasional user, while it's abundantly clear that many people enjoy using MDMA, the biggest concern is understandably its safety. Although mainstream media and government authorities try to make the case that the drug, as sold and used, is clearly dangerous, the actual evidence of acute toxicity is far from conclusive. Despite periodic scary headlines blaming the drug for hospitalizations and even the deaths of teenagers and college students, many believe that the risks of the drug have been overstated. An astounding number of Americans partake in at least occasional "rolling", to use the slang term for being high on MDMA. According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, in 2012 there were a reported 16,162,000 lifetime users of MDMA, 2,610,000 past-year users, and 628,000 past-month users. Yet, while the drug accounts for tens of thousands of annual emergency room visits, fatalities associated with the use of the drug seem to be relatively rare.

The most common causes of MDMA related deaths involve a combination of the drug itself with the environment and the activities associated with its use. The number one cause is heatstroke. A normal dose of MDMA can inhibit the body's temperature regulation system and even a small dose can raise body temperature by up to one degree. This can increase the risks of overheating, especially in a hot environment or when strenuously exercising like vigorous aerobic dancing. Other causes of MDMA related deaths include dehydration and ironically the opposite condition, water toxicity, usually associated with dramatic over ingestion of fluids.

For the most part however, deaths and toxicity that have been linked to MDMA have been the result of "ecstasy-like" substances that are not actually MDMA. Due to legal restrictions and the difficulties associated with obtaining the raw materials for manufacturing the drug, faux ecstasy tablets and capsules abound. The problem of fake MDMA is so significant that a website dedicated to the understanding of psychoactive substances has set up a program that will, if you're suspicious, corroborate the contents of that little white pill or powder for you.

The bottom line is using pharmaceuticals, illegal or legal, is never going to be in our health interest; it's simply in the nature of drugs, much like water is wet or sunlight is warm, to be toxic. That having been said, in an open society, citizens should be allowed to do what they want with their health, their bodies and their minds, without fear of criminalization and legislated penalty. If anyone wants to experiment with drugs, as long as they harm no one but themselves, it should be no one's business. However, taking any drug is not without risk, especially taking ones that are manufactured illegally and sold surreptitiously. All buying decisions made in a free marketplace, must take into account the wisdom of Ancient Rome: "caveat emptor" or "Let the Buyer Beware"!