How Ecstasy Works in the Brain
The popular club drug Ecstasy is viewed by some as a relatively "safe" illegal drug, but its damaging effects on the brain suggest otherwise. The chemical makeup of ecstasy allows it to reach the brain quickly after ingestion. Here's a quick, step-by-step look at how Ecstasy works:
- After ingesting an Ecstasy pill, the drug is ingested and begins to disintegrate quickly in the stomach.
- Once dissolved, some ecstasy molecules are absorbed from the stomach into the bloodstream, but most of the ecstasy molecules move from the stomach into the small intestine. There, they are easily absorbed into the bloodstream sily.
- Ecstasy molecules that have entered the bloodstream from the stomach and small intestines then travel to the liver.
- In the liver, some of the Ecstasy is metabolized to inactive compounds and the rest is carried through the veins to the heart.
- Once in the heart, the Ecstasy is pumped to the lungs along with the blood, which becomes oxygenated and then returns to the heart.
- Oxygenated blood carries the Ecstasy from the heart to the brain and to other organs in body.
