I like your writing style - not many people find it necessary on BL to write clearly and concisely.
For the record I am glad that you have not suffered the serious side-effects that some long-term MDMA users have.
But I have little doubt that you still exhibit some cognitive decline, however subtle.
Assuming you accept this, all that is left is the issue of anxiety/depression/psychosis.
And this does NOT happen to the majority of MDMA users.
Despite my strong posts I never intend this to be the argument.
I always post with the knowledge that most people will suffer cognitive changes, but not emotional catastrophe.
However I am motivated to indicate that the risk is MUCH higher for serious smokers of bud.
Despite the limited neuroprotective properties it may hold.
We have already agreed that cannabis offers protection in acute doses.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0028390811002784
This is a rodent study that shows neuroprotection from
chronic administration of THC, measured by social behavior, hyperthermia, and SERT and 5-HT levels in multiple brain regions. I could easily point to such a study in support of the idea that long-term cannabis use somehow protects against neurotoxic binge model MDMA use.
But right away we see that this study administers THC for only a few short weeks prior to MDMA.
There is also the higher complexity of the human brain to consider.
At best this study suggests
short-term neuroprotection from THC, but not long-term.
I would like to see the study of both rats and primates that smoke daily for five years or more, and are then administered MDMA!
I bet we would see very different results.
But this is not a practical experiment design, obviously.
I have also encountered studies that show improved cognitive scores from current poly-drug users versus MDMA alone.
Is it possible that THC somehow combats cognitive decline for a period of time?
Much more common are the studies that show that opposite.
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13803390903042361
MDMA alone is normally less problematic than MDMA + cannabis or other drugs.
And this is the overwhelming trend in research - polydrug users perform worse and are more prone to psychological problems.
This one acknowledges the dichotomy without making firm conclusions.
Straddling the fence...
http://jop.sagepub.com/content/20/2/188.short
Here is another that tracked a small group of users over a two year period.
It concludes that MDMA does reliably lead to deficits in verbal memory and that cannabis may lend an important influence in this result.
http://jop.sagepub.com/content/22/5/498.short
And finally a very long read that illustrates the link between cannabis and schizophrenia.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1764544/
Many have tried to argue that cannabis only causes psychosis in those who were destined to experience it anyways, and some limited data does suggest this effect.
But there is also strong data that suggests cannabis can cause this in people who are not otherwise likely to develop such conditions.
Most likely there is truth to both points of view.
I can clearly remember how amazing weed was while rolling.
A better pair of drugs never existed!
While I never had any real nausea, I cannot imagine rolling without being stoned.
Especially when the peak hits.
Then the roll just comes back later after smoking!
But if cannabis improves the negative side-effects the next day, this implicates the neurotoxic properties of MDMA - rather than highlighting the protective properties of weed.
Sure it can do both.
The cannabinoid system may reveal a new class of very useful drugs in the future, but the anti-cancer and radiation properties of regular bud is highly questionable.
I should actually point to one of your statements - "Almost EVERY single person I have encountered report that cannabis reduces anxiety or nausea during MDMA use."
Read enough of the schizophrenia research and you will find that most patients perform BETTER on cognitive tests for a short time following cannabis use.
And they also report significant improvement in mood, also temporary.
It is the subsequent loss of the drug from the brain that precipitates a psychotic event most reliably - although acute reactions during use can also occur.
I thought it was notable that both schizophrenics and MDMA users can label cannabis an anti-anxiety medication.
Almost nothing in medicine and science is one-sided.
Cannabis does both - it improves the experience, eases negative symptoms, and offers limited neuroprotection in acute and (possibly) chronic administration.
But it can also cause drastic alterations to the brain that encourage psychosis and anxiety (esp. with long-term use) even in people NOT prone to mental illness.
Make no mistake - cannabis is a powerful mind-altering drug.
Confounding personal issues?
Well honestly no.
If I suffered any depression or unhappiness in life it was fairly mild.
I always had decent self-esteem, a good work ethic, a very attractive wife, a demanding sex life, and an intellectual ability beyond most of my fellow students/workers.
And about a year before my 'bad comedown' I began exercising daily and have continued to do so throughout my recovery.
I can point to poor diet habits, which I find to be quite relevant.
I was never out of shape, but for years I ate too much fast food.
And now I understand that the serotonin system is the connection between the brain and the intestines, primarily.
Yes - poor dietary habits would be a great personal suspect of mine, a confounding factor.
As is poor sleep habits - also a key brain function mediated by serotonin.
Keep those things in mind as you continue to roll.
You already mentioned sleep yourself.
I have thought about this long and hard, including during a time when my mental motivation and desire to answer questions was extremely high.
I asked myself many times about what other causes could have played a role.
There was a 100mg dose of benedryl at 48 hours post MDMA.
While this was a critical error and directly precipitated the serotonin syndrome that followed the next day, it alone would not have caused this event.
Neither would the modest 30 tabs of MDMA I consumed over two years.
Or the mini-binge that involved taking 2.5 tabs two weekends in a row, then another half the next day!
Nor do I solely suspect my use of an enema the last night I was rolling and having digestive discomfort.
The fact is ALL of these things are independent factors.
And my proclivity to redose, sometimes twice, EVERY time I rolled cannot be ignored.
I now understand that preventing that foolish practice alone would have prevented the outcome - regardless of all other factors!
That is why "NO REDOSING" is my number one rule on BL.
It would save nearly ALL MDMA victims.
But at the end of this list I have NO choice but to conclude that one of the biggest factors....
probably the second leading risk behind redosing...
was a DECADE of regular cannabis use.
No other factor was as persistent in my life.
No other factor appears as reliably in research.
No other factor is shared by most of my fellow online victims.
Or my wife.
There is no doubt within me - CANNABIS was the MOST important risk factor after
redosing.
Period.
But it took a LOT of smoking, I must admit.
I am no cannabis hater, but heavy long-term smoking is just stupid for psychedelic drug users!
That is what I want to impress upon BL - NO REDOSING MDMA, and STOP SMOKING WEED EVERY DAY.
That would cover 90% of my mission objectives.
I hope someone is paying attention.
in intimate home settings with close friend where it's really easy to regulate hydration and temperature. 