MAPS issues a report based on documents obtained through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests showing that from 1989-2002, Drs. Ricaurte and McCann received federal grants totaling over $14.6 million dollars for MDMA and MDMA-related research. (A FOIA request for 2003 data has been submitted.) This is a rather amazing amount of money and suggests that Drs. Ricaurte and McCann had some powerful incentives to exaggerate the risks of MDMA. This also speaks volumes about our society’s warped priorities in that not a single penny of federal money has been awarded to explore any of the therapeutic uses of MDMA. This is an imbalance that MAPS hopes to rectify over the coming years.
