Molly (MDMA/Ecstasy) Isn't Always What The Dealer Says It Is

At the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards (VMA) presentation, former child star Miley Cyrus garnered worldwide attention for stripping down to a flesh-colored bikini to perform her signature twerking dance moves, simulating sex acts with host Robin Thicke, groping his genitals with a foam finger. But a line in the song she sang in her performance, "We Can't Stop," is also getting a lot of attention:

"We like to party, dancing with molly."

The Miley Cyrus song isn't the only reference to "molly" in popular music. Singer Rick Ross recently released a song about drugging a woman with "molly" and then raping her. We can't show the lyrics here. In "Diamonds," Rihanna sings "Palms raise to the universe, as we moonshine and molly." In Molly with That Lean, Soulja' Boy says, ""Molly with that lean, rollin' through the streets/Molly with that lean, b---h I do my thing." On Nicki Minaj's album "Beez in the Trap," Two Chainz sings "Got your girl on Molly and we smoking loud and drinking."

The BET network has a slide show of 12 pop songs that refer to the party drug molly. But what is it, really?

What People Think Molly Is

People buy molly to get the ecstatic high provided by the street drug ecstasy. Users pop a brightly colored pill, and dance or have sex for several hours until it wears off.

Many users say the the high while the drug is active outweighs the low after it wears off.

Many users of molly believe it is a pure molecular form (molly) of the drug ecstasy, or MDMA, without added chemicals. Touted as "pure ecstasy," users may believe it is not just pure, but "natural," and safe, without side effects.

Ecstasy was a popular party drug in the 1990's. Its chemical name is 3, 4 methylenedioxymethylamphetamine, hence the abbreviation MDMA. We're not going to tell you how to make it here, but it's not hard to synthesize from chemicals that are found in pharmacies and hardware stores. The problem with using the products that can be bought over the counter is that they contain impurities. 

And people believe that the side effects of ecstasy, which became famous in the 1990's, are due to the impurities. Ecstasy/MDMA can cause impotence in male users. It can cause a condition called serotonin syndrome in both male and female users.

The way the drug produces a high is to keep a high level of the "happy chemical" serotonin in the brain. However, there is such a thing as too much serotonin. High levels of serotonin can cause serotonin syndrome. This results in nausea, then diarrhea, then high blood pressure, and in very rare instances, fatal cardiovascular events. These most typically happen when the user is also on an antidepressant such as Prozac or Luvox. Removing "impurities," unfortunately, doesn't prevent these side effects.

What Molly Really Is

Unlike most other street drugs, ecstasy, MDMA, and molly tend to be made by just a few drug dealers who have their own "brands" of illegal drugs. There are ecstasy-related websites where users rate their experiences with various brands and report adverse reactions. If you are getting a drug made by one of the big labs, there is a good chance it doesn't actually doesn't contain the methamphetamines (speed) that could be formed with the older "recipes" for the drug.

But the problem is, even illegal drugs can be counterfeited. And even the apparently "pure" form of the drug has caused several cases of brain hemorrhages in Miami. A Labor Day weekend music festival had to be shut down in New York after two deaths of users of the drug.

So How Can You Be Sure Molly Is Safe?

You can't be sure molly is safe. That and the fact it's illegal are the reasons we can't recommend that anyone use it.

However, if you are going to use the drug, you need to know these basic facts:

1. Your drug dealer probably doesn't know any more about the purity of the drug than you. A study funded by the Department of Justice in San Francisco found that dealers typically did not try to change the logo or pill design of the molly they received from their suppliers. However, that doesn't preclude a rival supplier from tampering with the drug.
2. The color or logo typically changes on each batch of pills from the same supplier. If "Blue Dolphin" or "Mitsubishi" or "Alligator" worked for you one time, it might not be available the next time you want to use the drug. Or a different supplier, who works with a different "recipe," may be using the same logo. 
3. Public health officials and police make a point of publicizing deaths from drugs for two reasons. One is they want to save lives. The other is they want dealers to know when they got a bad batch. Public officials work on the assumption that drug dealers want to keep their buyers, alive, too. If they can't stop the trade altogether, they hope to stop a bad batch. But when people are dying from a bad batch, it will be at least a few weeks before the "good stuff" is on the street again.
4. Certain cities are known for having fewer "bad batches" than others, but it's not like there's a Better Business Bureau for street drugs. Don't assume that because you are in a city where there are no reports of deadly drugs, you won't be the first.

Sassafras oil (also known as "sass") is not a natural form of ecstasy. And it doesn't really give you a high, although it makes tasty root beer.

How Can You Tell When You Need to Go to an ER?

We aren't scaremongers, so we aren't going to tell you that if you have taken some street drug, you're going to die. But if you got a bad drug, here's how to recognize the symptoms that require a trip to the emergency room.

1. People who have problems with molly (or ecstasy) typically are taking prescription antidepressants, or have also taken ketamine (special K), heroin, GHB, or cocaine.
2. If you find someone passed out and you only suspect they have taken drugs, call for emergency help. Glow sticks and fruit-flavored energy drinks often go with illicit drug use.
3. A bad trip from molly can cause a variety of brain-related symptoms, such as headache, blurred vision, passing out, anxiety, paranoia, hot flashes, stumbling, dizziness, and restlessness.
4. A molly overdose can also cause dry mouth, inability to urinate, nausea, vomiting, and abdominal cramps.
5. Males who use molly on a regular basis often become impotent. Viagra, Cialis, and Levitra can't correct this kind of erectile dysfunction, since the problem is in the brain, rather than in the circulatory system.
6. Women of reproductive age are especially likely to have bad experiences with ecstasy during the mid-point of their menstrual periods, when their estrogen levels are especially high.

Most people take molly without incident, but a few suffer serious injury or death. Make sure you have someone who can provide the help you need if things go wrong when you take an illegal, unregulated drug.