"The Food and Drug Administration has approved the first study of the illegal party drug Ecstasy as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. Conscious of the need for drugs to treat the disorder after the Sept. 11 attacks, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, a non-profit group working to have psychedelic drugs approved as medicines, applied in October for government approval of a study in which 20 people will take Ecstasy during therapy sessions. The theory is that the drug will reduce fear so patients can talk about the trauma."

Comment by Dr. Rick Doblin:

This article gives the impression that MAPS cobbled together a protocol after Sept. 11, to take advantage of the terrorism crisis. Actually, MAPS has been working on this specific MDMA/PTSD protocol for two years, and has been working in support of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy research for 15 years. The study involves 20 subjects, 12 of whom will receive MDMA and 8 of whom will receive a placebo. Note that the article never uses the chemical name MDMA, but refers to the drug as Ecstasy.