This past weekend I saw something that truly terrified me.
My two brothers and I hosted a birthday get together in Muskoka and one of my friends brought her boyfriend and one of his friends, who I had never met.
As soon as the friend walked in the door he appeared hazy and extremely uncomfortable, twitching and continuing to pull down his t-shirt sleeve to reach his wrist. The friend also didn’t speak a word the entire night.
Despite trying to be friendly and welcoming this person into my home, the truth is I felt extremely uncomfortable and in a way frightened, and that was a mutual feeling among my friends and my two brothers.
My oldest brother decided to stand up and find out why this young adult was acting so strangely, only to find out from his friend that he had overdosed on MDMA (methylenedioxyamphetamine) a few months prior.
The sense of fear quickly turned into sadness as my brother told me what this 20-year-old had done to him self—fried his brain. For those of you not familiar with MDMA, it is a drug commonly known to have the purest components of ecstasy. It’s a drug that, despite the obvious dangers, a huge population of young adults use recreationally. Commonly associated with house music and weekend celebrations like Tomorrowland and, more recently, the Shambhala Music Festival, MDMA keeps people awake for several hours and gives them a feeling of enhancement.
The drug is readily available and fairly inexpensive, which is why it is commonly used by young adults just out to have a good time.
But knowing the dangers of this extremely toxic drug makes me wonder why anyone would risk completely frying their brain for a high?
This young adult completely destroyed his life. One of the first things that popped into my head when my brother told me was how devastated his parents must be. I can’t even begin to imagine the heartbreak my mother and father would feel if they saw me, completely fried, unable to properly interact with other human beings.
It’s a risk that I am certainly not willing to take and I pray that by writing this editorial, others will feel the same way.
Please play safe and stay far, far away from MDMA.
That few hours of a high is not worth completely destroying your brain.