[music playing]

Narrator: It's a Saturday night get together at a place we have promised not to reveal.

[techno music]

Techno music provides the beat, but this little pill makes the party.

Male Partier: We all want to feel great for a couple hours. That's why we do it.

Female Partier: The deed is done.

Narrator: It's called ecstasy because users say that's exactly what they feel.

Scott: There's feelings of euphoria, total happiness with the world that—

Narrator: Scott is an engineer.

Scott: And I've never taken drugs as an escape. That's why I never chose to do them before. And I realized that ecstasy really helps you explore yourself.

Jen: It's helped me become more secure in who I am.

Narrator: Scott's girlfriend, Jen, works in health care.

Jen: Right now, I'm just starting to feel my pill come on.

Camera Man: Is it good?

Jen: Really happy.

Narrator: They say ecstasy is good, clean fun. A drug that makes them more compassionate.

Scott: It really increases your tolerance for other people and things.

Narrator: More insightful.

Jen: It helps me learn more and more about what makes me tick.

Male Partier: You feel warm all over. You get stimulated.

Female Partier: Your body's tingling.

Male Partier: Yeah, it's like an hour-long orgasm.

[techno music]

Narrator: This little pill is fueling a whole new subculture. This video was shot by an undercover cop at a rave in Miami.

Undercover Cop: You can see by her eyes that it's really hitting her hard. This right here is all part of being under the influence of MDMA, or blowing up.

Narrator: MDMA is the chemical name for ecstasy.

Undercover Cop: You can see she has a painter's mask on. They fill it with the Vicks inhalants and put it on their face. They're breathing in the Vicks inhalants, intensifying the high of MDMA.

Female Speaker: [inaudible] take it?

Jen: Yeah. You stick it on your face. And you just walk around, and you breathe. And it feels really good.

Narrator: Ecstasy causes the jaw to clench.

Female Partier: Your mouth gets really—

Male Partier: Dry.

Female Partier: Stimulated and you want to be moving your jaw a lot.

Narrator: So users suck on lollipops or even baby pacifiers. The high makes the body super sensitive.

Undercover Cop: While you're under the influence, you go up there, you get a massage. Again, it's all [? part ?] to intensify the high of ecstasy.

Narrator: Ecstasy works by flooding the brain with serotonin, a chemical which regulates mood and memory. It also heightens perception of color and light.

Undercover Cop:They have the glow sticks surrounding him. And what they'll do is take turns at this.

Narrator: But that rush of serotonin can be dangerous.