The effects of MDMA (3,4- methylenedioxymethamphetamine, ecstasy) on cognitive and psychomotor functions were investigated in a series of laboratory tests, and in a driving simulator. In the first experiment MDMA, alcohol (sufficient for a BAC of less or equal 5 promile) and a placebo were administered single-blind to subjects who thereupon carried out a series of laboratory tests. In the second experiment MDMA was not administered in an experimenter-controlled way. A group of 20 regular ecstasy users were tested in the driving simulator to their driving performance on the evening they had indicated that they would use MDMA and go to a party. Simulator driving tests were carried out 1 hour after ingestion of MDMA, and the next morning after the party. Before the first test the subjects were required to ingest MDMA alone, while during the party, before the morning test, they could do whatever they would usually do, i.e. no restrictions for other drugs were imposed. All subjects carried out a strictly sober control test ride in the simulator on a night, comparable to the drug test night. Separately, a control group of non-drug-users in the same age-range was tested in sober conditions on comparable nights. In both experiments performance was measured on tasks that cover relevant aspects of driving capability. The results show that the lower level processes such as steering performance are not affected, however, higher cognitive processes such as pattern recognition and accuracy of task performance are, whereas acceptance of higher risk levels was found as well. Multi-drug use appeared to be common practice among the group of regular ecstasy users, in particular the combination of MDMA and marijuana and MDMA and alcohol was popular. After multi-drug use driving performance deteriorated considerably in comparison to driving performance after MDMA alone. (A)
Abstract