Determination of ecstasy (3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine) in drivers killed in traffic crashes

Abstract

MDMA (3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine) or Ecstasy is a synthetic illegal drug that has been largely used in recent years by youth during dancing parties called Raves, mainly in the United States and Europe. Ecstasy presents stimulant and hallucinogen effects and it is commonly used in combination with alcoholic beverages. There are reports showing that this drug combination contributes to higher fatality rates in motor vehicle accidents in several countries.According to some indicators, in Brazil, the use of Ecstasy as a recreational drug is increasing. Despite this, there are no epidemiologic data on the consumption of this compound and its likely relationship with increasing of fatal events in traffic.The present proposal shall be developed at CEMEL/FMRP/USP and our goals are: (1) to determine MDMA and its metabolites (MDA, HMMA e HMA) in biological samples (blood, urine and vitreous humor) collected from fatal traffic victims; (2) study the relationship between the MDMA consumption and deaths caused by motor vehicle accidents and (3) to evaluate the postmortem distribution of MDMA in different body fluids, to determine the adequacy of using vitreous humor as an alternative sample for MDMA analysis. (AU)