By Marianne Wait
WebMD Feature
Deborah, a teen from Los Angeles (who asked that her last name not be used), went to a popular music festival with friends. There she had an encounter with Molly that left her sitting in a corner, drenched in sweat, and twitching. Deborah’s friends called for help, and she was sent to the ER. "The doctors treated her high fever and agitation and sent her home, lucky to be alive," says David Sack, MD, an expert in addiction psychiatry and addiction medicine.
Molly isn’t a girl; it’s an illegal recreational drug, one of several now popular with young people.
They’re not considered safe. Because they’re illegal, there are no controls over what might be in them. In fact, many aren’t even the substance they’re sold as.
Here’s what experts say parents -- and teens and young adults -- should know about these drugs:
1. Molly
Between 5% and 7% of high-schoolers have tried what they thought was Molly, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Molly is popular at parties and concerts, and some singers have hyped it in their lyrics.
When it first came out, it was a pure form of a banned drug called MDMA or Ecstasy, which is known for producing feelings of euphoria and friendliness.
“The buzz about Molly is the result of widespread misconceptions about what the drug really is,” says Sack. “Teens think it is pure Ecstasy … and that it is somehow safe.”
Molly today is neither pure nor safe, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. “Molly can be pretty much anything,” says special agent Joseph Moses. “Molly is whatever the seller wants to say is Molly. In one region, only about 13% of the samples that were submitted to our lab that were supposedly MDMA contained any.”
Molly has been tied with a number of overdoses and deaths nationwide. Molly, or MDMA, has left people with severe muscle tension and seizures as well as dangerous overheating. It can lead to depression and anxiety that can last for days, and can even cause memory loss.
“Most of the time,” says Sack, “Molly is a mixture of any number of synthetic drugs, many of which are more dangerous and less predictable than MDMA.”
source : Krokodil, Molly, and K2: Drug Facts
