Great read. This is reminiscent of Gabriel Nahas' 1970's research that concluded that marijuana causes brain damage. In short he was suffocating rhesus monkeys with marijuana smoke, taking images of their brains, and suggesting that the brain damage was caused by marijuana. A group of UCLA neuroscientists saw the advertisements based on this research, noted that the brain damage was consistent with asphyxiation, not marijuana, and filed a lawsuit. Nahas was forced to retract his dishonest research.

Curious that in Ricaurte's study they were actually administering methamphetamine rather than MDMA, and making erroneous conclusions regarding the effects of MDMA on the brain when in fact methamphetamine was being administered. I suspect much of the supposed damaging effects of Ecstasy are actually due to the heavy concentrations of methamphetamine and other substances in black market preparations - yet another instance when the actual damage of drug ab/use is actually the result of the legal prohibition and consequent lack of safety controls.