2012 marks the hundredth anniversary of the creation of MDMA, the active ingredient in the recreational drug commonly known as Ecstasy. MDMA has had a turbulent history, one interwoven with Cold War experiments and secretive multinational chemical companies, but it is its lasting appeal among students as the party drug of choice which has led to its outlawing across the globe.
Created in 1912 by the German pharmaceutical company Merck and patented in 1913, MDMA remained out of sight and out of mind for more than 40 years; believed to be nothing more than a failed diet pill, the company had no idea of its potential. Now the third most popular recreational drug (solvents and marijuana sit in a comfortable first and second), many feel it could have rejuvenated a drug market collapsing around the declining opium dens of Western Europe.
