A Brief History of the Netherlands` Love Affair With Ecstasy
(WorldNews Netherlands)

This article originally appeared on VICE Netherlands. Ecstasy – or MDMA – was invented by German pharmaceutical company Merck KGaA as a blood thinner in 1912. Of course, its side effects turned out to be much more fun than its intended purpose. In the Netherlands, those side effects drove both a house music boom and a thriving drug trade. Today, the country remains one of the largest producers and exporters of MDMA worldwide, and has seen an increase in organised crime-related violence in recent years. So much of what’s been written about the drug focuses on crime, but freelance journalists Philippus Zandstra and Wietse Pottjewijd think it’s high time we talk...