The Evolution of Ecstasy: From Experimentation to Regulation and Potential Therapy

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This chapter examines the historical trajectory of ecstasy, highlighting its transformation from a substance celebrated in the 1970s to one feared in the 2000s. It also delves into legal repercussions, societal reactions, and the emerging potential for ecstasy in therapeutic applications today.

In 1980s Berkeley, an eccentric chemist and his wife, a self-taught therapist, experimented with MDMA. Their work would kickstart a decades-long campaign to mainstream psychedelics as a therapeutic tool — one that’s coming to a head this month, with a decision due from the FDA.

This episode was reported and produced by Haleema Shah, edited by Lissa Soep and Matt Collette, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Andrea Kristinsdottir and Rob Byers, and hosted by Sean Rameswaram. It’s the first in a series supported with a grant from the Ferriss–UC Berkeley Psychedelic Journalism Fellowship.

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