I chose that statistic to be a bit tongue-in-cheek, cf
> While 'ecstasy' is the popular name for MDMA, the functional definition of ecstasy is any pill represented as MDMA on the street. Ecstasy pills are notoriously unreliable in content, more so than most other street drugs, and commonly contain either caffeine, ephedrine, amphetamines, MDA, MDE, DXM, or--in rare cases--DOB, and don't necessarily contain MDMA or any psychoactive.
To follow up on your response and clarify some: in your dataset, not only do 91.7% of the vendors of 'speed and MDMA' also sell 'Ecstasy'; 76.8% of the vendors of 'Stimulants and Ecstasy' also sell 'MDMA'.
If I understand correctly, this means that vendors were significantly more likely to mention 'Ecstasy' in a product name (or description) if they claimed to be selling 'MDMA' than they were to mention 'MDMA' in a product name/description if they claimed to be selling 'Ecstasy', reinforcing the point that you have just made.
What people think of as ecstasy (the pill that makes you dance all night) is usually mdma mixed with some kind of speed. That's why this statistic was amusing.
If you also include the methamphetamine row, that number is a lot higher, in 2007 in particular it was present in 38.6% of the pills tested. For contrast, last year only 33.1% percent of the pills tested actually contained MDMA.
I don't do MDMA personally but I have some friends who like going to raves with some chemical supplies. On the streets, some make it a point of honor to sell/buy only "MDMA" because "ecstasy" is "crap".
The only precise name is MDMA. In my opinion the name users give to what they're ingesting is inconsequential. Most users have no idea what MDMA means anyway, nor would they know how to chemically identify if what they bought might contain MDMA.
There's also "Molly," which is the street name for pure MDMA. (Though: most terms are tied to a specific geography.)
...nor would they know how to chemically identify if what they
bought might contain MDMA.
True, but that's not unique to MDMA users. cf. the heroin in the Netherlands that was being sold as cocaine, and which lead to several deaths.
Organizations such as Dance Safe have existed for decades (in the U.S. at least) to let people test their drugs to make sure they're ingesting what they intend to ingest.
"Molly" is the US term for what should be (but usually isn't - very often some mixture of random RCs methylone, mdvp and other alphabet drugs) MDMA.
The UK term is "Mandy" "mud" or MD.
Ecstacy (which I have never ever heard used) refers to what should be MDMA in pill form along with some binders and is usually referred to in the UK as "pills" or "Es". I believe the US prefers the terms "rolls"
>the heroin in the Netherlands that was being sold as cocaine, and which lead to several deaths.
How on earth can you buy coke and get heroin? No one buys coke and then rakes up a monster line, everyone does a dab test (lick finger, stick it in the powder and taste it)
Heroin tastes nothing like coke. Heroin sells for more so why mix it in?
Ah yes, Molly. Heard that one too. The heroin is apparently still being sold as cocaine in Amsterdam. I was posters about this on stores a couple of months ago :/
I wish researching the drugs you do and testing them as thougraly as possible was more widispread. I have managed to drill it into most people I meet in that context. Most are actually receptive and dispite public assumptions, do care about their long term health and what they put in their body. A small amount are not. In one case I tested somebody's 'MDMA' for them and told them that I was certian that there was no MDMA in it at all and they took it anyway.
Most are actually receptive and dispite public assumptions,
do care about their long term health and what they put in their body.
That's where I don't agree. If they really cared, they wouldn't ingest unknown chemicals. Actions speak louder than words. The only reason they keep on doing it is because their experiences so far have been good on average, without too much drama. It's sad but sometimes even the death of a close one is not enough to stop people from blindly trusting street pushers.
I don't personally have a problem with MDMA and I would try it if I could be assured it was pure, with regulated dosage. Purifying street bought drugs and carefully measuring dosages is surprisingly easy and doesn't require a lot of money (FWIW, I'm a chemist).
The absurdity of the situation, in my opinion, is that people are willing to blindingly trust some random (or even a well-known) pusher because the consequences of making due diligence are harsher, in their minds. What I mean is that it's much easier and on average much less dangerous to just ingest a pill than to make due diligence and possibly get caught, sent to prison, etc.
