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'True Life: I'm Hooked on Molly' is Depressing, but is MDMA Even Addictive?

The coverage of this video from around the web is misguided and exploitative.

Clips from MTV's True Life: I'm Hooked on Molly hit the internet this morning. In one, a girl named Paige admits to taking MDMA on a near daily basis and, by the looks of things, is not in a particularly happy state. She decides to head to rehab as video footage of her practicing gloving ad nauseum in a full-length mirror plays over and over.

The clip is being passed around the blog-o-sphere as a humorous curiosity, but as lifelong ravers, we find nothing funny about it. Watch one of the trailers, but know that it might just ruin your day:

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It's a fact of life that, for many, MDMA (3,4 MethyleneDioxyMethAmphetamine) is an important aspect of the rave/dance/electronic experience and, compared to other stimulants, it's always been considered to maintain lesser addictive qualities. Both methamphetamine and cocaine affect dopamine levels in the body, which is more closely tied to impulse control than is seratonin, the neurotransmitter associated with MDMA.

Tell that to Paige, though. "I cannot have fun without it," she says, and snorts the drug almost every day, even occasionally smoking it nasally through the technique of "hot-railing."

It's obvious that Paige is not your average user, but her love for music and the distress she endures during the comedown/withdrawal period is something that every chemically inclined raver can relate to.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse states that the few studies undertaken on physical addiction to MDMA have found "widely varying results," and DanceSafe explicitly note that MDMA is "not physically addictive," so what's going on with Paige?

Even with the aspect of chemical dependency addressed, you can get psychologically addicted to pretty much anything – Gambling, video games, and pornography have all had their moment in the spotlight as the addictive terror du jour. Individuals with addictive tendencies can get caught up in any cycle of reward and the perils are as serious as physical dependency. Further, pure MDMA may not be addictive, but it's often cut with other forms of amphetamine or totally unrelated substances that definitely are addictive.

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We're not here to tell you what's right or wrong. We're not passing judgment on Paige, either. But footage like this is a stark reminder that the eternal pursuit of party isn't all fun and games and that it's important to check yourself at every turn.

Even further, MTV's pop-documentary and the exploitative coverage of it from culture blogs around the web skews perception of the matter. Paige's issues are not an indictment of dance music culture, but rather a sad situation that could have befallen anyone. It just happens to be one of our own.

Fore more information, check in with DanceSafe on the regular.

Jemayel Khawaja is THUMP's Managing Editor - @JemayelK