The effects of (+/-)-methylenedioxymethamphetamine and (+/-)-methylenedioxyamphetamine in monkeys trained to discriminate (+)-amphetamine from saline.

Recently, attention has been focused on (+/-)-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), a psychotomimetic agent chemically closely related to the psychomotor stimulant methamphetamine, and also to the hallucinogen mescaline. In the present experiment, the effects of MDMA and (+/-)-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA) were determined in rhesus monkeys that were trained to discriminate intravenously administered (+)-amphetamine (AMPH) from saline in a two-lever, food-maintained paradigm or to discriminate intragastrically administered AMPH from saline in a signalled electric shock avoidance paradigm. MDMA produced 100% drug-appropriate responding in all six monkeys, regardless of the procedure and route of administration while MDA substituted completely for AMPH in only two of three monkeys in each paradigm. The results suggest that MDMA has subjective effects that are similar to those of AMPH while MDA is somewhat less like AMPH.