United States Approves Ecstasy to Treat Trauma
Maariv Newspaper, Israel, by Alex Doron
March 1, 2004

A precedent has been established in the United States following a long struggle by an American psychiatrist who was able to convince the FDA to grant him permission for medical research with the party drug, Ecstasy, which will be used as a means to help those who suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Dr. Michael Mithoefer from South Carolina was granted the permission and announced that he will give the Ecstasy to 20 women who suffered from sexual assault and suffer from continued trauma that has not ended. In the future, the drug will also be given to people who suffer from combat-related PTSD. Twelve of the 20 will get the actual drug and 8 will get the placebo as a means to control whether the drug itself is active or there is only a psychological effect. The FDA approved Dr. Mithoefer's research back in 2001 but only now has an Institutional Review Board been willing to approve the clinical study as required for research in human beings. Until now, Ecstasy was considered like heroin, cocaine and LSD as a drug that could not be used for medical research.

Saved her life.

Ecstasy is a synthetic drug that was invented back in 1912 but remained unknown until it was discovered again in the 1970s by young people who found it suitable for parties. In the last 30 years, psychiatrists believed that the drug had the proper characteristics especially for the treatment of trauma victims and end-stage cancer patients who develop extreme anxiety. One of the first women who was treated by Ecstasy (even though without an official permit) is a Colorado resident who was raped and beaten severely at the age of 17 and during a period of 8 years suffered panic attacks that made her go for psychiatric hospitalization. Until she was treated by the drug, doctors assumed that she was and has deep depression and manic depression. Today, the woman claims that her life has been saved thanks to Ecstasy.