          Normally with today's society in the United States the issue of drug legalization tends to polarize a room. In this case, I am talking about whether or not the chemical MDMA, the chemical that makes what we call today ecstasy, should face a full-blown legalization. Methylenedioxy-methamphetamine, as it is scientifically known, has always interested me because it is perceived to be a rather destructive drug. In reality it is one of the safest drugs to ingest and is thought to be safer than alcohol. I am interested in this research question for a lot of reasons because of the controversy it creates due to lack of information, the potential healing powers of MDMA for  mental illnesses, and the benefits of legalization.

           This research question does not affect my values whatsoever. I believe that if this can be used as medicine those suffering from mental illnesses should recieve the help they need. I also do not find taking MDMA for recreational use to affect my values. I believe everyone should have the right to ingest whatever they want as long as they receive the proper education on the effects of the drug, appropriate doses, frequency limitations, and if no one else is being harmed. Due to MDMA's illegalization I have not been able to try it, therefore I have no experirence regarding this research question. Although, MDMA use has increased within the past five years and is quite popular amongst young adults. My generation has been subject to an explosion of MDMA usage and curiosity, therefore I would say my qualification to write about this is that I am living in an MDMA crazed, pop-culture filled with a bunch of kids who are bored of saying no.

          My first source's goal is to purely educate the public on the ''hows" and ''whats" of MDMA and its responsible use. The article was published by Drug Policy Alliance who seek to provide the public with''...accurate, and nonjudgemental information about MDMA and other drugs." (Drug Policy Alliance) Such unbiased information that you can even find out how to test ecstasy for pure MDMA. The main points of interest in this article are what is dangerous about MDMA and how to safely use MDMA. They include what is commonly used as adulterants of the drug, what are the long-term helth effects, how risky it is compared to other drugs, and what amounts cause overdoses. I believe this to be one of the most unbiased sources one could find on the basic information of MDMA. Drug Policy Alliance is a legitmate organization that receives donations to educate the public on what drugs are, their effects, and their dangers. Throughout the article much of their information is sourced through scientific studies and statistics.

          The second article I chose was on the medicinal properties of MDMA for mental illnesses. This article was published by MAPS, multidisciplinary association for psychedelic studies, which is currently "...the only organization in the world funding clinical trials of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy.'' They are so dedicated to this subject that by 2021 MAPS plans to make MDMA into an "...FDA approved prescription medicine...". The main points of interest are that it can cure people who are suffering from depression, traumatic experiences, anxiety, and other life threatening disorders. They mention that in MDMA-assisted psychotherapy MDMA is only given a few times, rather than other anti-depressants, and it is safe to ingest when taking moderate doses a limited amount of times. (MAPS) I wouldn't say there is any bias with this article because it is the only organization in the world that is giving MDMA another look. I would also argue that this source is very credible seeing as how it is the website of the MAPS organization.

          The third article I chose to analyze was on the neurobiology of short term and long term effects of MDMA. It talks about how in short term effects of repeated use the brain is depleted of its normal serotonin levels, and then what could potentially happen if repeated usage were to continue via tests conducted on monkeys. It's main point is that unsafe, repeated usage of MDMA can be potentially detirmental to humans as seen with the monkey experiment. This source indicates that inappropriate dosage of MDMA can be neurotoxic in the recovery and repletion of serotonin receptors. This article seems to be credible because it was published by the National Institute of Drug Abuse, but it was published in January of 2007. Since MDMA has gained so much popularity within the past five years there have been more recent studies conducted. Also, the article relates the effects on the biology of monkeys to the potential effects on the biology of humans, a different species.

          I feel as if my research question is arguable because it resorts back to people's emotions towards drug abuse, causing uneasiness. An arguement could be made that the legalization of recreational drug use would be detrimental to our society, but I believed there is a counter argument on the benefits of legalization such as safety, costs, smaller prison population. I didn't find any disaggreements amongst my sources, they just seemed to advocate the responsible usage and dosage of MDMA. If I were to revise my research question I would perhaps ask why and how MDMA should be legalized so that a minimal amount of people are not harmed seeing as how dosage amd limitations are imperative to the safety of MDMA.

