Cocaine vs Ecstasy/MDMA: Comparative Effects on Mood and Cognition in Recreational Users

Abstract

INTRODUCTION Cocaine powder has overtaken Ecstasy/MDMA in popularity as a recreational party drug in the UK [1]. However there is comparatively little empirical data on its mood or cognitive performance effects. This report describes the findings from three studies comparing Ecstasy users, cocaine powder users, and non-user controls. The three studies involved a variety of mood scales, self-rating questionnaires, and cognitive performance tasks.