Time Line of MDMA / Ecstasy / XTC

1912 MDMA first synthesized by Merck Pharmaceuticals.

1914 MDMA patented by Merck Pharmaceuticals.

1953 The Army Chemical Center studied MDMA toxicity by giving MDMA to guinea pigs, rats, mice, monkeys, and dogs.

1965 Alexander Shulgin synthesizes MDMA but does not yet try it.

c. 1967 The first small underground batches of MDMA are synthesized. Relatively few individuals have tried it at this point.

c. 1968 Alexander Shulgin begins working with MDMA personally and introducing others to it.

1976 The first scholarly article on MDMA is published.

c. 1977 MDMA begins to be available on the street as a recreational drug.

1977 MDMA, as an analogue of MDA, was listed as a class A drug in the UK in 1977 and placed into Schedule I of the Misuse of Drugs Act, 1971. Equivalent to the FDA’s schedule I rating, MDMA is deemed to have no medicinal use and carries the same legal penalties as diacetylmorphine, cocaine and d-LSD. Possession may result in up to 7 years imprisonment and an unlimited fine, whilst trafficking can result in life imprisonment and an unlimited fine.

May 31, 1985 MDMA banned federally.

This escstasy drug timeline presented as a public service by Narconon International: See also Ecstasy Addiction | Effects of Ecstasy | History of Ecstasy