Drugs are bad, m'kay?

[giza]

The strange case of the man who took 40,000 ecstasy pills in nine years

Doctors from London University have revealed details of what they believe is the largest amount of ecstasy ever consumed by a single person. Consultants from the addiction centre at St George's Medical School, London, have published a case report of a British man estimated to have taken around 40,000 pills of MDMA, the active ingredient in ecstasy, over nine years. The heaviest previous lifetime intake on record is 2,000 pills.

Though the man, who is now 37, stopped taking the drug seven years ago, he still suffers from severe physical and mental health side-effects, including extreme memory problems, paranoia, hallucinations and depression. He also suffers from painful muscle rigidity around his neck and jaw which often prevents him from opening his mouth. The doctors believe many of these symptoms may be permanent.

[Edit: Yes, I was being sarcastic in the Subject line. I'm aware that taking that much of just about ANY drug could have adverse consequences.]

Comments

[branwyn.livejournal.com]

Wow. Just... wow. 25 pills a day for 4 years? Did this guy not have a job?

Though this begets the question: What would happen to someone who took 25 aspirin per day for 4 years? Or cough medicine, or laxatives, or... anything, really, even the most innocuous OTC drug?

Some drugs (legal or illegal) are "bad" and some are not... depending, obviously, on reason for use and intended effect. Excess, however, almost always has consequences. ;)

B.

[unciaa.livejournal.com]

If it takes THAT much to cause severe problems I declare ecstasy safest drug on earth. :p

[quentincoyote.livejournal.com]

Yeah, considering how, if I understand it right, it's not even the ecstasy that gets one high really, but it's causing the brain to release serotonin. Which, there is only so much available of at any given time in the first place. So I can't even imagine what this guy must've been thinking to get out of it :-P

[pyesetz]

It's been said that an 10 MDMA pills in one day is fatal about half the time, but that's based on rat studies.  Clearly this fellow has very high tolerance for amphetamines.

[nemetfox.livejournal.com]

Actually, it doesn't take a lot of MDMA to have damaging effects on your brain. I don't recall the exact numbers from my course back at Western, but it's not even a remotely safe drug (oddly enough, developed as an appetite supressant in the first 20 years of the last century), generally killing a fair number of brain cells with each dose, but don't quote me on that. What I know first hand, is that it makes you feel really good, then really really bad, while it cooks your brain.

LSD is about the safest thing, so far as toxicity goes. It takes more of the drug than it's possible to consume in a day (by the usual distrobution methods) to reach the LD50 (leathal dose in 50% of test subjects) mark.

[tgeller.livejournal.com]

Funny you should post this... just last night I ran across the toxicity level of THC (psychoactive component of pot). In short: You'd need to eat about three POUNDS of pot in one go, or smoke somewhat more. That's about $10,000 worth at wholesale... they're usually sold in 1/8th-ounce bags, one of which lasts me (smoking) a couple of months.

As for the ecstasy dude... the only thing I can imagine is that he was in the grip of an obsessive-compulsive disorder. It's futile to take that many doses for the high... your brain simply adapts. Ask anyone who's tried staying up for more than a couple of days. (Not me... the few times I've used ecstasy, it's in a single dose, maybe with a half-dose "bump" a few hours later. But that's it, and it's enough! Fabulous drug, BTW, but I find it rough on the body.)

[giza.livejournal.com]

I thought weed was considered the safest of all recreational drugs?

And isn't LSD fat-soluable, which makes for a gift that keeps on giving?

[nemetfox.livejournal.com]

They're both pretty safe.

And I believe it is. Think of it as a stash that nobody else can ever get to.

[willyumtx.livejournal.com]

http://www.erowid.org/

[xoagray.livejournal.com]

Yeah, pretty much if you want to take E, you might as well just take a hammer to your head. Sure it feels good, but it's definately not worth it. I've had a bit of background in the effects of drugs myself, and E ranks decidedly amongst the more dangerous ones. mainly because in most people, it feels really good, and when you come down, it's not much worse than any of the other harder drugs.

[xoagray.livejournal.com]

I'm honestly amazed that anyone could use that much of anything and still be breathing. I've done a lot of drugs in my time, but nothing like that.

X

[cheetor.livejournal.com]

Weed is bay far the safest recreational drug, far safer than Alcohol.. Thats for sure. as for many other HARD drugs, they're not what they're cracked up to be in terms of addictiveness and damage..
considering the list of drugs I've had
pot x LOTS (I smoke on average twice a week)
LSD x 2 (hasn't been my favoirte realy :( )
2C-I x 1 Quite Excelent, great visuals, no comedown/hangover
2C-E x 1 BRILLIANT VISUALS, no comedown, great fun
MDMA x 2 great stuff, good fun, would be easy to get hooked if you arnt careful
Crystal Meth x 1 Realy good high, plenty of fun, hangover was absolutley horrible.. was like the walking dead for 2 days, hence this isnt on my to do again list

[cheetor.livejournal.com]

Erowid, one of my favorite websites :P