Drug Molly Is Not Safer Than Ecstasy, Say Experts

The drug Molly was been blamed for a few deaths at a music festival over the weekend but experts are worried that teens still won’t see the danger of the drug.

Shelly Mowrey with drugfreeaz.org said that many teenagers try the drug molly because they believe that it’s a “more safe” alternative to the drug ecstasy. According to Mowrey, molly’s biggest “selling point” is that it is a “more pure” form of ecstasy and is therefore less dangerous.

But that isn’t the truth.

Mowrey said: “That’s kind of one of the selling points of molly, if you will – that it’s the purer form of ecstasy; it’s safer… And that’s absolutely not the case; because it can be cut with other drugs just like ecstasy can and cause death.”

Molly has been around for decades but it has recently seen a surge in popularity. The Drug Abuse Warning Network said that there were more than 22,000 emergency room visits in 2011 involving MDMA, the main ingredient in the drug Molly. That’s a 120% increase from 7 years ago.

It has also found its way into pop culture thanks to singers like Miley Cyrus, Kanye West and Madonna.

Dr. Frank Lovecchio, co-medical director of Banner Poison Control and Drug Information Center, agreed with Mowrey, saying: “Whoever came up with the idea that molly is a safe form of ecstasy is a genius in marketing, but is wrong from a medical standpoint.”

One reason that molly is just as dangerous as other drugs like ecstasy is because it is often cut with other drugs.

Dr. Julie Holland, a psychiatrist and the editor of Ecstasy: The Complete Guide, said: “That’s one of the most dangerous things about the situation now… You have no idea what you’re getting… When you go to a concert and buy this white powder, it’s really a crap shoot.”

Meghan Ralston, harm reduction manager at the Drug Policy Alliance, said that molly could actually be more dangerous than ecstasy because it is easier to cut with other drugs. Ralston said that ecstasy usually comes in pill form and is harder to tamper with than molly, which comes as a simple powder.

Ralston said: “It’s pretty hard to mess with something once it’s pressed into a pill… Powder is a different story. It can be adulterated several times before it winds up in the hands of the user.”