I sold "ecstasy" for about a year in the early-90s, around UC Davis, Stockton, Modesto, down to Stanislaus State. It helped me pay for college.<p>I first heard about "ecstasy" at a rave in Sacramento. It wasn't called "ecstasy" then, it was just called "pills". My friend and I were trying to sell weed at the rave and no one wanted it; kids were making fun of us, telling us to go back to Woodstock. So we found a source of pills in San Francisco - a former cop that reminded me of Fred Schneider from The B-52s, and we went back to another rave in Sacramento. The two things I remember from the whole experience are:<p>1. People REALLY liked this stuff. I'd never seen people so happy to buy drugs. We usually sold out within a few minutes of showing up, just hanging out in the parking lot.<p>2. Unlike other popular drugs (weed and coke), it seemed almost impossible to get caught. I had <i>one</i> interaction with the police - a kid at Sac State got sick and needed medical attention; the cops eventually questioned him and he ratted on us. A cop later rolled up, questioned us, then asked if we would get him a date with one of our friends, some pretty girl we knew from the rave scene. He basically said he'd look the other way if she went on a date with him. The girl agreed and that was it. So yeah, I know things changed, but at the time, cops just weren't taking "pills" seriously. (BTW, the girl did go on a date with the cop; she said he was a tool. He showed up to the date with his gun holster under his jacket, and flashed his badge to the waitress when she asked about ID to buy booze from the bar. There was no second date.)
If you are interested in the topic, you can check the autobiography of the biggest manufacturer of LSD in history:
"The Rose Of Paracelsus" by William Leonard Pickard [1].<p>It is both poetic and fascinating. It's not an easy read but I recommend it.<p>[1] <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28930020-the-rose-of-paracelsus" rel="nofollow">https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28930020-the-rose-of-par...</a>
Not entirely on topic but a relevant warning. Extasy is used nowadays as a rape drug. Be careful. I have had extasy three times in my life, none of them consensual -- every single time it was slipped into my drink. I described the symptoms to my psychiatrist and she said that it was extasy for sure. I am a middle aged man and not incredibly attractive. God knows what is happening to young sexy people.<p>So if you are having a drink somewhere and you suddenly unexpectedly get this really happy, warm and cozy feeling, as if everything is alright with the world, there is love everywhere and you just have to hug and kiss somebody, anybody .... well do not hug or kiss anybody. You may have just been drugged.<p>There is a very troubling lore about MDMA, in that it apparently it is not such a bad drug, etc. I don't know about this ... I do know that a lot of MDMA deaths happened at the extasy fueled raves that were popular in the 90s and the early 2000s. They say those deaths were from other causes ... I do not know if this is true, but I have a feeling that this mantra of "MDMA is not that bad it is all about love, etc. " has been taken up by would-be-rapists to convince themselves that what they are doing is not that bad. That MDMA is not really a rape drug like Rohypnol, so there is nothing wrong in slipping one into a person's drink.<p>Well they are wrong. It is a serious crime and it is attempted rape if intent is established.<p>I confronted one of the guys that slipped me MDMA. It is not difficult to guess who did it, they usually make sure they are close to you when you are having those "I need to hug and kiss someone, anyone" feelings. He essentially admitted it without saying it outright and started laughing. Thought it was a cute thing, like something out of a romantic comedy.<p>I wish I had proof to send all those f*ckers to jail but of course when you are happy on MDMA you do not think to save the evidence for the police. But next time I will. I have thought about this enough that next time I will recognize the symptoms and do what needs to be done regardless of how happy I am feeling.<p>If anyone cares, none of these events resulted in sexual assault, I am a very careful person and I do not easily give in to strange feelings.
"At this point, he’d been using heroin every day for many years. " ...
"As the DEA puts it in a fact sheet it circulates for parents and educators, “It is ironic that a drug that is taken to increase pleasure may cause damage that reduces a person’s ability to feel pleasure.”<p>Maybe years of pill popping had done just that to Jenkins. "<p>... <i>eyes rolling</i>
MDMA is so fun. It's something I would love to do once a year or so for the rest of my life. Unfortunately it seems that people can't really grow up and do drugs responsibly. People either hard pivot away from drugs early on because they were abusing them, or they go down a path where drugs define them. The only way to keep getting good drugs that I know of is to keep in touch with friends on the latter path, but I don't really want to associate much with them.<p>Same with weed, it seems most people I know either quit smoking completely, or do nothing but smoke weed. I'm in my mid 30s.<p>Where the responsible casual adult drug users at???