QUICK TAKEAWAY
Ecstasy is a Schedule I narcotic under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) commonly known as MDMA, Molly, the love drug, XTC and E. It is generally sold in tablets or capsules and can come in a variety of shapes, sizes and colours. It can also vary in the drugs that it contains, sometimes being “cut” with methamphetamine to make it more addictive. Because Schedule 1 contains the hardest street drugs, those charged with possession or trafficking them can face serious consequences under Canada’s Criminal Code with a maximum sentence of life imprisonment in some cases.
Table of Contents:
What is Ecstasy?
Ecstasy is the slang name for methylenedioxymethamphetamine. This drug can affect your energy level, mood and appetite. It is manufactured in illegal laboratories and can be stamped with logos such as peace signs giving it a candy-like look.
According to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, ecstasy may contain fillers and drugs other than MDMAPsychoactive synthetic drug used largely for recreational purposes, including caffeine, amphetamines, dextromethorphan, ketamine, and LSD. It could also contain potentially lethal toxic drugs, such as paramethoxyamphetamine, a designer drug in the amphetamine class. Ecstasy is sometimes sold in powder form or tablets can be crushed and snorted. It is also possible to inject it.
Use of the drug increased in the 1980s among young people at all-night dance parties and became known as the rave or club drug. Today it is used by a wider range of people.
Street Names for Ecstasy
XTC, adam, beans, candy, dancing shoes, M&M, disco biscuits, dove, E-bomb, egg rolls, pill, peanut, hug drug, love drug, malcolm, molly, smartees, sweets, skittles, thizz vitamin E or X.
Effects of Ecstasy
MDMA increases the activity of three brain chemicals: serotonin, which affects mood; dopamine, which increases energy; and norepinephrine, which raises blood pressure and heart rate. The drug’s effects can last up to six hours and you could experience chills, sweating, nausea and blurred vision. After the initial effects have worn off you may be irritable, confused, paranoid, depressed or anxious. Although regarded by some as relatively safe, ecstasy increases your body temperature, blood pressure and heart rate, which can result in kidney or heart failure, seizures and stroke. High doses could lead to heart failure or death.
Legal Status of Ecstasy in Canada
MDMA was patented in 1913 and was most notably used as a supplement to psychotherapy in the 1970s. Canada made it illegal to possess, traffic, import or produce the drug in 1976. Because it is considered a Schedule I narcotic, selling, possessing or production of ecstasy is illegal unless authorized for medical, scientific or industrial purposes. Still, Canada has been a leading illegal exporter of the narcotic, at one time becoming the biggest supplier to the United States according to American law enforcement officials. In a 2011 the United Nations' World Drug Report, Canada was singled out as a major player in the global trade of synthetic drugs such as ecstasy.
What is Needed to Convict
To find you guilty of possessing ecstasy, the Crown must establish beyond a reasonable doubtThe standard that must be exceeded to find someone guilty that you were in possession of the drug. Remember that “possession” is not just limited to the idea that the drug was found on your person or in your car or house. Instead, it means that you had some degree of control and knowledge of the drug.
As a result, you can be found guilty of possession even if the ecstasy was found at someone else's house or in a friend’s knapsack.
Other basics the Crown has to prove is that the substance in question is a drug listed in the CDSA and that you had knowledge about its illegal nature.
Penalties for Ecstasy Offences in Canada
Deterrence plays an important role in Canada's justice system. If you have been convicted of a crime involving Schedule ICommonly characterized as “hard drugs" drugs you could be sent to jail, even if it is your first offence. Sentences will vary depending on how much you possessed and if there were any aggravating factors.
Since it is considered a hybrid offenceAn offence prosecuted either as a summary conviction or as an indictable offence, the Crown has an option to proceed by summary convictionUsed for lesser offences or an indictable offenceIndictable offences are more-serious criminal offences.
A summary conviction can bring a penalty of a $1,000 fine and/or up to six months in jail for a first offence. You face a $2,000 fine and/or up to one-year imprisonment for each subsequent conviction.
If the Crown chooses to proceed as an indictable offence, you face a maximum prison term of seven years.
If you are convicted of trafficking and possessionTo have some control and knowledge of a drug for the purpose of trafficking you could face a maximum of life imprisonment (s.745 of the Criminal Code).
Under the CDSA, you can be convicted of trafficking if you "sell, administer, give, transport, send or deliver the substance" or if you "sell an authorization to obtain the substance or offer to do anything mentioned." An exchange of money is not required for a conviction. Simply transferring a controlled substance such as crack from one person to another is enough.
November 17, 2022
Update: Bill C-5: Mandatory Minimum Penalties Repealed.
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Glossary of Legal Terms
Hybrid offence
Hybrid offences fall between a summary and an indictable offence. The Crown prosecutor chooses whether to treat the offence as a summary or indictable offence.
Indictable offence
Indictable offences are the most serious offences under the Criminal Code and they come with more serious punishments, up to a maximum penalty of life in prison.
MDMA
Also known as ecstasy or Molly, it is a psychoactive synthetic drug used largely for recreational purposes. It alters mood and perception, producing feelings of increased energy, pleasure and emotional warmth.
Possession
Possessing a drug on your physical self, or knowingly in the custody of another person, or the place for the use or benefit of yourself or another person.
Reasonable doubt
The Supreme Court of Canada has said that reasonable doubt “falls much closer to absolute certainty than to proof on a balance of probabilities” and “that something less than absolute certainty is required, and that something more than probable guilt is required."
Schedule I
Schedule I drugs are commonly characterized as “hard drugs.” They include street drugs such as heroin, cocaine, and opium and numerous pharmaceutical-grade drugs such as oxycodone and morphine. Schedule I drugs show a high risk of dependency. See Schedule I of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act.
Summary conviction
Summary convictions are used for lesser offences with penalties, fines and short jail time. They reflect the majority of offences as defined in the Code.
