Early research and use MDMA was first
synthesized and
patented in 1912 by
Merck chemist
Anton Köllisch. At the time, Merck was interested in developing substances that stopped abnormal bleeding. Merck wanted to avoid an existing patent held by
Bayer for one such compound:
hydrastinine. Köllisch developed a preparation of a hydrastinine
analogue, methylhydrastinine, at the request of fellow lab members, Walther Beckh and Otto Wolfes. MDMA (called methylsafrylamin, safrylmethylamin or N-Methyl-a-Methylhomopiperonylamin in Merck laboratory reports) was an
intermediate compound in the synthesis of methylhydrastinine. Merck was not interested in MDMA itself at the time. and its subsequent conversion to methylhydrastinine. Merck records indicate its researchers returned to the compound sporadically. A 1920 Merck patent describes a chemical modification to MDMA. MDMA's
analogue 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA) was first synthesized in 1910 as a
derivative of
adrenaline. However, he did not subsequently describe these effects until 1959. The first administration of MDMA to humans is unknown. An August 1970 report at a meeting of crime laboratory chemists indicates MDMA was being used recreationally in the Chicago area by 1970. MDMA likely emerged as a substitute for MDA, a drug at the time popular among users of psychedelics who directed him to the University of Michigan study. While not finding his own experiences with MDMA particularly powerful, One such person was
Leo Zeff, a psychotherapist who had been known to use psychedelic substances in his practice. When he tried the drug in 1977, Zeff was impressed with the effects of MDMA and came out of his semi-retirement to promote its use in therapy. Over the following years, Zeff traveled around the United States and occasionally to Europe, eventually training an estimated four thousand psychotherapists in the therapeutic use of MDMA. Zeff named the drug
Adam, believing it put users in a state of primordial innocence. Psychotherapists who used MDMA believed the drug eliminated the typical fear response and increased communication. Sessions were usually held in the home of the patient or the therapist. The role of the therapist was minimized in favor of patient self-discovery accompanied by MDMA induced feelings of empathy. Depression, substance use disorders, relationship problems, premenstrual syndrome, and autism were among several psychiatric disorders MDMA assisted therapy was reported to treat.
Rising recreational use In the late 1970s and early 1980s, "Adam" spread through personal networks of psychotherapists, psychiatrists, users of psychedelics, and
yuppies. Hoping MDMA could avoid criminalization like LSD and mescaline, psychotherapists and experimenters attempted to limit the spread of MDMA and information about it while conducting informal research. Between the 1970s and the mid-1980s, this network of MDMA users consumed an estimated 500,000 doses. A small recreational market for MDMA developed by the late 1970s, consuming perhaps 10,000 doses in 1976. Into the early 1980s, as the recreational market slowly expanded, production of MDMA was dominated by a small group of therapeutically minded
Boston chemists. Having commenced production in 1976, this "Boston Group" did not keep up with growing demand and shortages frequently occurred. In 1981, Starting in 1983, By the mid-1980s, MDMA use had spread to colleges around the United States. The DEA was surprised when a number of psychiatrists, psychotherapists, and researchers objected to the proposed scheduling and requested a hearing. An initial hearing was held on 1 February 1985 at the DEA offices in Washington, D.C., with administrative law judge Francis L. Young presiding. By some estimates the Texas Group distributed 500,000 tablets per month in Dallas alone. and Canada. The ban took effect one month later on 1 July 1985 As a result of several expert witnesses testifying that MDMA had an accepted medical usage, the administrative law judge presiding over the hearings recommended that MDMA be classified as a
Schedule III substance. Despite this, DEA administrator
John C. Lawn overruled and classified the drug as Schedule I. Harvard psychiatrist
Lester Grinspoon then sued the DEA, claiming that the DEA had ignored the medical uses of MDMA, and the federal court sided with Grinspoon, calling Lawn's argument "strained" and "unpersuasive", and vacated MDMA's Schedule I status. Despite this, less than a month later Lawn reviewed the evidence and reclassified MDMA as Schedule I again, claiming that the expert testimony of several psychiatrists claiming over 200 cases where MDMA had been used in a therapeutic context with positive results could be dismissed because they were not published in medical journals.
United Nations While engaged in scheduling debates in the United States, the DEA also pushed for international scheduling. The
Commission on Narcotic Drugs added MDMA to Schedule I of the convention on 11 February 1986.
Post-scheduling , Australia being broken up by police. MDMA use spread globally along with rave culture. video dramatizing the dangers of MDMA misuse The use of MDMA in Texas clubs declined rapidly after criminalization, but by 1991, the drug became popular among young middle-class whites and in nightclubs. Thereafter, in the late 1980s, the drug spread alongside
rave culture to the United Kingdom and then to other European and American cities. MDMA became one of the four most widely used illicit drugs in the US, along with
cocaine,
heroin, and
cannabis. According to some estimates as of 2004, only marijuana attracts more first time users in the United States. "Molly", short for 'molecule', was recognized as a slang term for crystalline or powder MDMA in the 2000s. In 2010, the BBC reported that use of MDMA had decreased in the UK in previous years. This may be due to increased seizures during use and decreased production of the precursor chemicals used to manufacture MDMA. Unwitting substitution with other drugs, such as
mephedrone and
methamphetamine, as well as legal alternatives to MDMA, such as
BZP,
MDPV, and
methylone, are also thought to have contributed to its decrease in popularity. In 2017, it was found that some pills being sold as MDMA contained
pentylone, which can cause very unpleasant agitation and paranoia. According to
David Nutt, when
safrole was restricted by the United Nations in order to reduce the supply of MDMA, producers in China began using
anethole instead, but this gives
para-methoxyamphetamine (PMA, also known as "Dr Death"), which is much more toxic than MDMA and can cause overheating, muscle spasms, seizures, unconsciousness, and death. People wanting MDMA are sometimes sold PMA instead. In 2025, the BBC reported on a study of 650 survivors from the
Nova music festival massacre. Two-thirds were under the influence of recreational drugs (MDMA, LSD, marijuana or psilocybin) when
Hamas attacked the festival on
October 7, 2023. MDMA appeared to have a protective effect against later problems with sleeping and emotional distress. ==Society and culture==