The unlikely story of how the psychedelic drug MDMA emerged from the shadows to the forefront of a medical revolution--and the potential it may hold to help us thrive.
Nuwer examines groundbreaking new research that demonstrates that MDMA (and to a lesser extent other psychedelics like psilocybin and LSD) may allow those suffering from PTSD, addiction and anxiety to reconnect to a social world from which their ailments have separated them ... Drug enforcement agencies and shoddy researchers spread unfounded myths about MDMA’s neurotoxicity and other dangers, which Nuwer diligently picks apart ... Nuwer’s work will remain a hopeful, unfulfilled prophecy.
Nuwer argues that the effort to recontextualize MDMA as a treatment for trauma is both "the latest installment in a long history of hype that’s surrounded this unique molecule" and a return to the drug’s roots ... One of Nuwer’s important contributions is dissecting two seriously flawed studies of MDMA that have been corrected in the scientific literature but have nonetheless shaped public opinion.
Although there are a few digressions into such topics as early Christianity and reasons people seek mind-altering substances, the book's information is current and accurate ... Written in narrative style, Nuwer’s treatise is most effective as standard nonfiction for the unscientific reader.
