MDMA

Acute Intoxication

The effects of ecstasy take up to 1 hour to appear after ingestion and me last for several hours. Depending on how much you have taken can produce the following symptoms:

Increased heart rate to dangerous levels in severe cases

Dry mouth and throat

Jaw clenching and grinding/lock jaw

Sweating and increased body temperature

Nausea

Loss of appetite

Loss of co-ordination/muscle cramps and clumsiness

Severe headaches

Rapid eye movements

Blurred vision

Urgency to urinate

Pins and needles

Death can occur not by contamination but by cerebal oedema because the drug has an antidiuretic effect on the kidneys. The excess of water ingestion caused the brain to swell. This is more exacerbated by physical activity such as dancing in a hot club.

Psychological impact.

Esctasy can produce a mild, euphoric rush of energy and vitality and increased levels of self-esteem and confidence. It can also produce feelings of empathy with others as well as visual and auditory hallucinations. On the downside it can produce flashbacks, aggressive outbursts, insomnia or psychosis.

Used regularly it is not known to be additive although users can develop tolerance. Long term use can cause liver abnormalities and impair cognitive functions.

After the acute effects of the drug have worn off the user may suffer for several days from anxiety, depression, irritability and fatigue known as the “midweek low” after a weekend of ecstasy taking.

Prescribed MDMA

MDMA and its associated compounds are not available on prescription and are not used for any medical purposes in the UK.

The legal limit for MDMA

MDMA is Class A drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and is a specified drug under S5A of the Road Traffic Act 1988 with a limit of 10ug/L on blood. This is a measurement that is 10,000 fold lower than the analysis for alcohol and the analysis is not subject to the type approval or a presumption that the result is correct. This leads to greater uncertainty in results.

The government did not accept the recommended levels which were set in the Wolff report. The report recommended that the level for MDMA should be 300ug at which they determined a driver would be impaired.*2

MDMA and Driving

The effects of ecstasy typically last up to 4 hours and the residual after effects can last up to 12 hours later often until the user has slept. The after effects of ecstasy can continue to have a negative impact on driving for 48 hours or more after ingestion.

The impact of driving within a short period of time after ingestion:

• Higher Risk taking: pulling out in front of vehicles, taking dangerous overtakes, driving faster
• Poor judgement: impulsive behaviour –behaves erratically when confronted with a dangerous situation.

These heightened symptoms only last a short period of time and then the after effects will kick in and these lead the following issues:

• Slower reaction time – greater distance will be travelled before reacting and there there is a increase risk of a collision.
• Lack of coordination – inabilaity to manage vehicle when driving and react appropriately to an emergency.
• Reduced concentration - miss road signs – traffic lights
• Decreased vision – “snow lights” which affect your periphal vision is common place with cocaine users which means that a driver can miss signs, fail to see pedestrians and other road dangers.
  

Defences for driving over the legal limit for MDMA

Laboratories have struggled to effectively analyse blood samples. There have been two laboratories recently which have lost their accreditation due to errors in their analysis of blood samples. Approximately 4,000 cases have been re-opened and convictions set aside as a result.

It is not a perfect science and you cannot assume that the prosecution analysis is 100% accurate it isn’t.

What to look for?

There a number of tell tale signs in the analytical data pack (ADP) which would indicate the result are unreliable.

• Has the laboratory deducted the allowance from the result – this is the allowed margin of error. If not then your result may be below the specified level.
• Does the laboratory have the proper accreditation which is the validation process which examines their processes to ensure their accuracy in analysing blood samples.
• Poor labelling and lack of continuity. All vials must be labelled correctly and followed through the analysis sometimes this gets muddled up and the prosecution cannot prove that the sample tested was the defendants.
• Has the data input been accurate if there is a “data anomaly” it will usually lead to inaccurate results.
• Failings in the quality control sample – each batch of samples must have a control sample to be measured against if this is contaminated in any way the whole batch would usually need to be re-tested but usually isn’t. Such contamination would lead to higher results and render the results unreliable.
• Have they calibrated the results and equipment accurately. The laboratories must test and calibrate their analytical instruments daily. These results must fall within a recommendation range or standard deviation. These are resulted in the form of graphs on the ADP which can be examined and the deviation checked to see if they fall within the recommended range if not the batch should have been re-tested because the results will not be reliable. Laboratories seldom re-test because it is not profitable to do so their margins for profit are so small.
  

Procedural Issues

The prosecution must follows the procedure to the letter, there include:

1. Compliance with S15 Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988 which specifies how blood samples should be taken and what should be done with them after.
   https://roadtrafficdefencelawyers.co.uk/2023/03/14/the-importance-of-keeping-your-blood-sample-taken-by-the-police/
2. Lack of continuity of the sample. The police must be able to show that the sample tested was your sample and failure to label correctly can break the continuity and offer a defence.
3. Failure to disclose evidence which will assist the us as the defence or undermine the prosecution case. The prosecution often fail to serve evidence within a specified period of time and this can lead to arguments to exclude vital prosecution evidence such as the expert report.

Post Driving Consumption

Many drivers say that when the police are indicating them to stop driving, they panic because they are in possession of some MDMA so having stopped their vehicle and before the police reach them they eat the MDMA tablet(s).

This is a defence but we would have to prove this on a balance of probabilities. We would have to show that but for the cocaine eaten you would have been under the limit. If done successfully you would be found not guilty and your case would be dismissed.

The police may have body worn video evidence which will either show that you may have taken MDMA or had the time to take MDMA. Equally it may also show that it was impossible for you to take the MDMA.

You will usually need expert evidence to show that but for the MDMA taken after driving you would not have been over the limit.

If you have taken drugs after being stopped then you should tell the police. It makes the argument of post driving consumption more believable.

Special reasons and MDMA

Special reasons can be argued where you have unwittingly taken MDMA in order to avoid the mandatory minimum 12 months ban.

• Laced drinks - usually you would have get the lacer to give evidence or provide some evidence to show that your drinks were laced. You would also have to produce expert evidence to show that but for the lacing element you would have been under the limit. This is easier to establish if you do not use drugs at all.

Reference

1. Symptoms and Signs of Substance Misuse 3rd edition Margaret Stark, Jason Payne-Jamesm Michael Scott-Ham
2. Wolff Report 2013