Meeting together in the hundreds and the thousands, large groups of young people have congregated to engage in collective trance dances, or raves, often fueled by the ingestion of a synthetic psychoactive substance, known as Ecstasy. Arousing apprehension among parents and civic authorities, perplexed by this changing pattern of behavior among youth, the phenomenon of ecstasy culture has riveted societal concern on the potential dangers of its increasingly notorious chemical sacrament. In spite of substantial media coverage, along with millions of federal dollars for basic science research on neural mechanisms for possible brain injury caused by Ecstasy, however, full understanding of both its medical consequences and cultural impact have remained
