It is not intended to be a library or archive of every MDMA-related question posed to MAPS, the MAPS forum or to MDMA literature archivist and research associate Ilsa Jerome. Instead, this area features selected questions or issues that have been asked more than once by more than one person. As the chief editor and archivist of the MDMA literature project at this time, I am most qualified to address questions and issues pertaining to MDMA and other entactogens, and so this area will only feature MDMA-related questions. However, many of the resources listed below can be used to obtain information about marijuana/cannabis and other psychedelic drugs.

If at all possible, please examine one or more of the electronic and non-electronic resources listed below before posting a question. Many topics of interest to one person have interested others before, and some of them have found an answer, or something that approximates an answer and has posted it somewhere on the Web.

MAPS' MDMA Research page, with links to other MDMA-related sites within and outside MAPS, including www.dancesafe.org, www.thedea.org (these sites may also have answers to the questions you have).

MAPS' comprehensive review of MDMA literature. Updates to the review will continue to appear; one already exists.

Summaries and overviews of MDMA literature, with a focus on studies in humans and non-human animal studies, organized by type of study. Summaries are linked to full-text copies of the papers whenever possible.

MAPS bibliography of research papers and documents relating to MDMA and psychedelics. To search MDMA research database only, use the pull-down menu on the left to select "MDMA literature database," and follow instructions listed on the bibliography page. More advanced searches can also be done (using "advanced search.") The bibliography is updated more frequently than the MDMA literature update page, and provides a list of abstracts drawn from PubMed (see below) and often links to copies of papers.

MAPS free E-mail Forum and archives by year (and by thread - meaning discussion or topic - within year) of Forum posts). The MAPS forum is a moderated e-mail list featuring wide-ranging discussions of MAPS-related issues. You may wish to join the forum list, or browse past list posting to read others' questions and the answers they received.

The MDMA section in the Vaults of Erowid, containing information on drug effects, chemistry, law, health, and experience reports. (see also www.erowid.org/chemicals/mde and www.erowid.org/chemicals/mda for related drugs. Scroll down through the whole screen to view all available options.

Ask Erowid. A compendium of questions asked and answered by the hard-working people at the Vaults of Erowid. (The first question appearing upon arrival seems to be pulled "at random.") f you use the "Search by Category" or "Search" functions to the left, you can find answers to others' questions, and yours might be amongst them.

Ask Dr. Shulgin and it archive. A compendium of questions posed to the chemist who re-discovered MDMA, and invented a large number of psychedelics. One or two questions are posted per month, with the list extending for about four years. Topics are not limited to MDMA or psychedelics, but they are frequently discussed.

PubMed. List of citations and abstracts from a wide array of journals, presented by the National Institute of Health. You can use words, authors or years in searches, and even journal titles. PubMed also has an advanced search capability. Full-text articles are accessible if you are affiliated with a library that subscribes to the journals.

Your favorite search engine (preferably one allowing searches through words or phrases and Boolean ("and," "or") searches over those involving the selection of questions or topics) Practice searching for your chosen topic and examine the array of search results. Not all search results will provide the information you need, or will do so in an accurate or trustworthy manner, but some may provide enough information or may lead you to other useful sources.

Making good searches takes practice. You may find certain combinations of terms more efficient than others. Whenever possible, try to use a word, phrase or author name that is most unique to the topic at hand.

Be sure you are spelling all items correctly. If the database, site or search engine says there are no results for your search, always check back to make sure you spelled all items searched correctly.

Also, sometimes items are incorrectly indexed or not linked when they should be, probably because at least one human is behind any given database, and humans sometimes make mistakes. When using combinations of words or phrases,. It is sometimes useful to only use one word or phrase to see whether a sought-after item appears.

For Non-students:
Most (but not all) colleges and universities will permit non-students to use their resources to some degree. In many cases, you will be able to read any materials within the library, and use most of the internet resources. However, most university libraries will not allow you to borrow any materials, and some electronic resources may be restricted to students.

For Students:
If you are a student attending any university or college, you will be able to use all resources available to students. Ask also about any associations or consortiums that your university or college library belongs to. Smaller colleges or universities sometimes have some form of arrangement with a larger school if it is within the same metropolitan area. Larger schools may have a number of libraries, and you may find yourself using several rather than being able to rely on just one. These may include: specific libraries for anthropology, biology, chemistry, medicine, neuroscience, pharmacology, psychology, or toxicology. Medical school libraries are most often found on a different location or even a different campus than the other libraries, and they may also have different (and often more restrictive) policies for non-students than the other types of library.

Telephoning the library with questions about library hours, privileges, or collections may also be helpful.

Some libraries have means of submitting interlibrary loan forms either electronically or over the telephone.

Library staff are often very helpful when you are looking for specific periodicals or books, or even if you have questions about other collections or libraries.

Please treat any books or periodicals with respect; do not write on original copies of books or periodicals as if they are your own, and do not ever steal or remove books or reports. I write this out of frustration in finding that enough people interested in MDMA and psychedelics do not follow these basic rules of human courtesy and library use. Books on MDMA at my graduate institution had a way of disappearing and being "lost." Not only is this unacceptable behavior for library patrons or visitors, but it prevents other people interested in the same topic you are interested in - your "community" - from obtaining the same information you are interested in. And what kind of community spirit is that? When I found this pattern of theft and scribbling on original copies, it left me with bad feelings about people who shared some of my interests, so consider also that when people behave in this way, it may turn potential supporters against the causes or values they presumably support. Much information can be printed out from electronic versions or photocopies, and the cost of photocopies is incredibly cheap. There is no excuse for writing in books or journals or for stealing materials from libraries. So (stepping down from the soapbox), please remember to treat library materials with respect and leave them in a condition that allows others to use them.

After you have obtained a book or journal article, you may wish to correspond with the researcher listed as the corresponding author if you have additional questions. While some researchers may be too busy to respond, I have found that many of them are happy to answer questions about their research or to clarify points in their papers. They are more likely to do so when your question is expressed clearly and politely, and when you show that you have at least some grasp of the general nature of the problem or question. Note however that researchers tend to move from one university, college, institution or company to another, so the e-mail or postal address indicated provided may not be correct, and generally seems to have an "expiration date" of about 2.5 years.