| by Stacy Shoemaker One small pill, a couple of gulps of water, about $25, and an hour later, a permanent smile finally starts to take charge of your face. Butterflies form in your stomach, making you feel as though you have just fallen in love again for the first time. Your head cocks slowly to the left, then the right as your pupils begin dilating, filling with elation. Looking around, you take in every sight, every sound, every touch, every smell of the familiar surroundings, and suddenly, they seem new and enhanced. And for some reason, thousands of times more exciting than before. Chills run up your spine like dominos, and goose bumps speckle your body, hairs standing on end. Your heart beats faster and faster and faster, as a rush of love for everything swells up inside. The smile widens, and no longer is there stress, strife or everyday worries, but rather giddiness, just giddiness, as though you are floating towards a new height of happiness, one you have never experienced before. You get this overwhelming feeling to tell those around you how much you absolutely love them and need to be around them. And then, from nowhere, a new, more powerful surge of tranquil bliss hits you as your smile shines brighter, spanning ear-to-ear. You realize that the past few minutes have simply been a tease of emotion, building up to this exact moment, which is the best fucking moment of your life. You want to gasp out loud, howl at the moon, for you have never felt this happy before, as your jaw begins to grind involuntarily and you have a sudden urge for water. Feeling like a child looking at the snow for the first time, you can hardly contain yourself, and don't know what to do or where to go first, but no matter what path you chose, you know you will enjoy every last blink of this experience. A couple of centimeters wide and long, this tiny pill provides hours of exhilaration and rapture. The drug, methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), properly known as ecstasy, is not your parents' drug. It is the drug of choice for Generation X. The club drug, the raver drug, the roll. Ecstasy has been around since the 1980s, but as it has recently poured into the United States, it is increasingly become more popular among teens and young adults. "When you are on ecstasy it is you, but you're heightened about 500 times," says Samantha, a Northwestern student. "When it's good, I feel like nothing else in the world." next: A National Epidemic [ or, go back to the top ] |
