Scientists Sharply Criticize Conclusions
of New MDMA (Ecstasy) Report
Multi-Disciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies
Press Release
Sept. 26 2002
Forum readers:
Below is MAPS' first-ever press release,
which worked rather well. We got
our perspective presented in the NYTimes and Washington Post,
AP wire service articles, and numerous newspapers. We failed to
get our perspective considered for the NPR story or the BBC story
and in other media outlets.
The crucial point is that there are direct
human data from two brain scan studies and one post-mortem autopsy
of a heavy Ecstasy abuser showing NO impact of MDMA on dopamine
levels. There are also several spinal tap studies conducted by
George Ricaurte that show NO affect of MDMA on dopamine metabolite
levels in spinal fluid (Ouch- I was tapped twice for two of these
studies).
The chance that MDMA will cause Parkinson's
is close to zero. Here is an excerpt from the New Scientist article:
"Robert Meadowcroft, policy director
of the UK's Parkinson's Disease Society, told New Scientist that
there is no evidence early-onset Parkinson's disease is on the
increase or that former MDMA users are turning up at clinics with
Parkinson's symptoms. This is despite the fact that the drug has
been widely used since the early 1980s.
"If the drug, used in large quantities,
were responsible for the young-onset
of Parkinson's disease we might have expected to see some early
evidence of this," says Adrian Williams, a neurologist at
the University of Birmingham in the UK. Another recreational drug
from the 1980s, called MTMP, did cause Parkinsonism and was detected
very quickly when users presented with severe symptoms."
Here's the press release:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 26, 2002
CONTACT:
Rick Doblin (617) 484-8711
Tony Newman (510) 812-3126
Scientists Sharply Criticize Conclusions
of New MDMA (Ecstasy) Report
Test Monkeys Injected With Deadly Doses of
Drug;
Study Did Not Simulate Human Use
Drug Education Experts Warn: Hyperbole Discredits
Message
Scientists have expressed strong criticism
of a new report about MDMA to be published in the journal Science
on September 27. The primate study, by Dr. George Ricaurte and
colleagues, reports that MDMA – or Ecstasy – damages
dopamine neurons in the brain, and suggests that such damage indicates
that MDMA may cause Parkinson’s disease in humans.
Critics, pointing to questionable assumptions
in Dr. Ricaurte’s report, say it suggests no such thing.
And they express concern about the hysteria often generated by
exaggerated estimates of drug-related harms – which, they
say, can hinder the efforts of parents and teachers to establish
open,
honest dialogue with young people about drug use.
Dr. Juan Sanchez-Ramos, Ellis Professor of
Neurology, University of South
Florida, and an expert in Parkinson’s and dopaminergic neurotoxicity,
said, "The multiple dose regimen of injected MDMA administered
by Dr. Ricaurte to primates does not simulate human exposure,
does not cause cell death, and does not predict anything about
human vulnerability to Parkinson's as a result of MDMA. In fact,
Dr. Ricaurte's study shows that it is far easier to kill whole
animals than to kill neurons."
According to youth drug education experts,
it is counterproductive to overstate and misrepresent the harms
of drug use. But they say that all too
often, research results – and the way they are promoted and
used -- are driven more by drug war politics and a scare tactics
philosophy than by scientific principle.
"Like everyone, young people stop trusting
you when you bend the truth to
scare them," said Marsha Rosenbaum, director of the Safety
First Project of the Drug Policy Alliance. "Good science,
not misguided fear, is what helps us talk honestly and effectively
with our teenagers about drug use and their safety."
Scientists pointed to several important flaws
in the Science report:
1) The doses administered are not representative
of human doses
The paper’s prepublication title, "Severe
Dopaminergic Neurotoxicity in
Primates after a Single Recreational Dose Regime of MDMA (Ecstasy),"
suggests it provides evidence about the effects of a single recreational
dose of MDMA. In fact, however, all but two of the primates in
the study were actually injected with three doses of MDMA within
a 6-hour period. This multiple dosage regime killed 20% of the
animals (2 out of 10), and possibly would have killed another
20% except for the fact that signs of distress caused the researchers
not to administer the third injection.
Dr. Ricaurte and colleagues claim that according
to their interspecies scaling model, which they use to estimate
the human equivalents of the doses administered to animals, "individual
doses of MDMA administered in this study are lower than those
typically used by humans…" It is difficult to believe,
say critics, that a dose regimen this fatal is equivalent to amounts
commonly self-administered by humans, in which fatal reactions
are exceptionally rare. Critics say this difference in lethality
further calls into question the validity of the interspecies scaling
model used by Dr. Ricaurte and colleagues.
2) Data from actual human studies shows no
dopamine reductions from MDMA
Dr. Ricaurte and colleagues suggest that
individuals taking MDMA may have analogous dopamine changes with
increased risk of Parkinson’s Disease. However, they failed
to cite several recent human brain scan studies and a post-mortem
autopsy study that found normal dopamine systems in very experienced
illicit MDMA users. These human studies suggest that MDMA may
not result in dopamine changes in humans.
Dr. Ricaurte and colleagues have themselves
carried out human spinal tap
studies in very experienced MDMA users and found no evidence to
indicate
lowered dopamine metabolites. These spinal tap studies, also not
cited in the Science article, are an indirect measure of possible
Parkinson’s risk and have been superseded by more accurate
brain scan and autopsy studies
3) There is no proven link between Parkinson’s
and amphetamine or
methamphetamine
The dopamine changes produced by MDMA in
this study are similar to those caused by d-amphetamine and d-methamphetamine,
two drugs that are structurally and functionally similar to MDMA
and are legally available as prescription medicines at present
and for more than half a century. During that time there has been
no convincing evidence linking these dopamine changes to Parkinson’s
Disease. This suggests that more evidence is needed before linking
the dopaminergic changes produced by Dr Ricaurte’s multiple
dose regime to neurological disease in humans.
Risk/Benefit Analysis for MDMA/PTSD Psychotherapy
Research
The FDA has approved a study into the use
of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy in the treatment of patients with
posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Patients must have failed
to obtain relief from at least one course of treatment with a
serotonin-selective reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), such as Zoloft,
Paxil or Prozac, the only type of medicine FDA-approved for PTSD.
This study will involve two oral administrations, three to five
weeks apart, of a single dose of 125 mgs of MDMA in an air-conditioned
room with subjects reclining on a couch and drinking an adequate
amount of fluids. According to Rick Doblin, Ph.D., President of
the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS,
www.maps.org), the non-profit organization that is sponsoring
the MDMA/PTSD study, "It has taken 17 years since MDMA was
made illegal in 1985 before a double-blind, placebo-controlled
study of the therapeutic use of MDMA has been approved by the
FDA. During that time, over 260 people worldwide have already
been administered MDMA in clinical research studies focused on
evaluating various aspects of the safety of MDMA, without demonstrating
evidence of harm to those human subjects. Dr. Ricaurte’s
latest findings do not significantly change the risk/benefit ratio
for the subjects who will volunteer for our study. MDMA/PTSD research
remains scientifically and ethically justified."
For additional information, contact:
Juan Sanchez-Ramos, PhD, MD
expert in Parkinson’s and in dopaminergic neurotoxicity.
Ellis Professor of Neurology
University of South Florida
12901 Bruce B Downs Blvd (MDC 55)
Tampa, FL 33620
Academic Office phone: 813-974-5841 or 6022
office FAX: 813-974-7200; jsramos@hsc.usf.edu
Dr. Jim O’Callaghan, Chief, Molecular Neurotoxicology Lab,
Center for
Disease Control.
jdo5@cdc.gov
NOTE: Dr. O’Callaghan can answer questions about neurotoxicity
but any
quotes attributed to him need to be cleared by Fred Blosser, Public
Affairs
Officer, CDC-NIOSH
202-401-3749
FBlosser@cdc.gov.
Rick Doblin, Ph.D.
President, Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies
(MAPS)
617 484-8711
rick@maps.org
www.maps.org
Marsha Rosenbaum, Ph.D.
Director, Safety First Project
Drug Policy Alliance
415-982-3277
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