MAPS: People Mag. Correction?

[RickMAPS@xxxxxxx]

Below are messages that I sent to Dr. Fahn and also to People, in hopes of
generating some sort of correction of the misinformation about MDMA. We shall
see...

 Dr. Fahn,

I'm wondering if you mispoke, or if the People magazine reporter misquoted
you, when you were quoted as saying that MDMA ( also known as Ecstasy) causes
Parkinson's.  I'm sure you know that the drug in question is MPTP, the
synthetic heroin, not MDMA.  Would you consider writing to People requesting a
correction? I am involved with efforts to obtain FDA permission to study the
therapeutic potential of MDMA and feel that misleading information about the
risks of MDMA can create public pressure on FDA to reject research  proposals.

Rick Doblin
Public Policy Ph.D. Candidate
Harvard's Kennedy School of Government
President, Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS)
www.maps.org


Dear Editor,

Perhaps Dr. Fahn mispoke or perhaps he was misquoted when he said, in your Jan
11, 1999 interview  about his research into Parkinson's, that MDMA (also known
as Ecstasy) kills dopamine cells and causes Parkinson's.  MDMA does not kill
dopamine cells. I am involved with  efforts to obtain FDA permission to study
the remarkable therapeutic potential of MDMA and fear that misleading
information about the risks of MDMA can create public pressure on FDA to
reject research  proposals. Furthermore, the error caused People to miss an
important  opportunity to inform the public about the dangers of the drug that
does cause Parkinson's, a synthetic heroin called MPTP.  

Sincerely, 

Rick Doblin
Public Policy Ph.D. Candidate
Harvard's Kennedy School of Government
President, Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS)
www.maps.org

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