Ecstasy: The Complete Guide

Edited by Julie Holland, M.D.

From the Publisher: Not since the 1960s has the world witnessed a drug phenomenon like the rapid and widespread emergence of Ecstasy. Described by enthusiasts as the most intense euphoria they know and by detractors as a cause of brain damage and even death, Ecstasy has engendered unprecedented levels of interest – and misinformation. While Ecstasy is found across the world in living rooms and dance clubs, reliable information about the drug is not. Now, Ecstasy: The Complete Guide takes the first unbiased look at the risks and the benefits of Ecstasy and the real drug behind it, MDMA, offering a critical resource for anyone seeking credible information.

From the world’s leading experts on MDMA, readers will learn the science of how it works, the health risks associated with the drug, its promise as a treatment for depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, chronic pain, and other illnesses, and how to minimize the health risks of illicit use. Whether you are a concerned parent, a professional wanting the most recent reports on MDMA research, or a raver, Ecstasy: The Complete Guide provides the answers you need.

Featuring contributions from Andrew Weil, M.D.; Ralph Metzner, Ph.D.; Rick Doblin, Ph.D.; Douglas Rushkoff; Alexander Shulgin, Ph.D.; Ann Shulgin; Rabbi Zalman Schachter; David Nichols, Ph.D.; Karl Jansen, M.D., Ph.D.; Charles Grob, M.D. and others.

Praise for the book: “…this volume makes a strong case for studying and legalizing MDMA for therapeutic purposes, without minimizing the potential dangers of abuse. An important contribution to the literature on illegal drugs.” — Eris Weaver, Library Journal, September 15, 2001

“MDMA is a unique compound with great potential for positive use. This is the most complete book about it, with much information to help people realize that potential as well as reduce any possible harm.” — Andrew Weil, M.D., author of 8 Weeks to Optimum Health, and Spontaneous Healing

“Ecstasy: The Complete Guide offers a thoroughly engaging, multifaceted look at a very controversial substance. Well done.” — Spalding Gray, actor, performer, and author of Morning, Noon, and Night and Impossible Vacation

“This is the best contemporary overview of MDMA, one which simultaneously succeeds for popular and scientific audiences. Encyclopedic in its scope, it is at the same time most readable.” — Lester Grinspoon, M.D., professor emeritus, Harvard Medical School and author of Marijuana: The Forbidden Medicine

“In an important addition to the literature, a psychiatrist at Bellevue Hospital who is an expert on street drugs has gathered papers from numerous experts that discuss hazards of the drug and ways to mitigate them.” — Library Journal, May 1, 2002

“A comprehensive tome, this book offers something for nearly anyone interested in substance use and abuse, regardless of their perspective. Overall, a good addition to a comprehensive collection on psychoactive drugs that appear to have both therapeutic and abuse potentials.” — T.D. DeLapp, Choice, May 2002

About the Author: Dr. Julie Holland is a board certified psychiatrist in New York City. As an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Holland majored in the “Biological Basis of Behavior,” a series of courses combining the study of psychology and neural sciences, with a concentration in psychopharmacology, or drugs and the brain. In 1992, Dr. Holland received her medical degree from Temple University School of Medicine, where she performed research on auditory hallucinations, extensively interviewing nearly one hundred psychotic patients. In 1996, she completed a psychiatric residency at Mount Sinai Medical Center, where she was the creator of a research project treating schizophrenics with a new medication, obtaining an IND from the Food and Drug Administration. In 1994, she received the Outstanding Resident Award from the National Institute of Mental Health.

From 1996 to 2005, Dr. Holland ran the psychiatric emergency room of Bellevue Hospital on Saturday and Sunday nights. A liaison to the hospital’s medical emergency room and toxicology department, she is considered an expert on street drugs and intoxication states, and lectures widely on this topic. She published a paper in the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, describing a resurgence of the drug phenomenon smoking marijuana soaked in embalming fluid, which may be a carrier for PCP.

During her college years, Dr. Holland grew interested in a new drug being used as a psychotherapeutic catalyst, and authored an extensive research paper on MDMA (ecstasy), resulting in multiple television appearances, forensic consultations, and a book, Ecstasy: The Complete Guide.

She has been quoted as an authority on MDMA in countless magazine, newspaper and website articles (Harper’s, Slate, SF Chronicle, LA Times, Wall Street Journal) and has published in the journal Lancet about the putative neurotoxic effects of MDMA. She has also written two articles for the quarterly journal of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, a consortium of international hallucinogen researchers. The first detailed a survey of ecstasy and other drugs used at New York City raves, and the second reviewed an international conference on psychedelic research held in the Netherlands.

ISBN-10: 0892818573    –    ISBN-13: 978-0892818570