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Tala Hammond
Professor Ibarra
Drugs and Alcohol in Society
24 October 2015
Molly Research Paper
Molly or MDMA is a synthetic psychoactive drug with hallucinogens
similar to that of both the stimulant amphetamine and mescaline that gives
people euphoric energy when they take it. It came into popularity from the
party scene, raves specifically. This is a drug that makes you feel connected
to others and helps you keep dancing all night. However, what most people
do not talk about is how dangerous molly can really be. (Drug Facts)
You are at a party; everyone is having the time of their lives except you
or so it feels that way. You are exhausted and cannot keep up with everyone.
You are wishing you could have as much fun as them and your friend
mentions a pill she took that makes her feel amazing. She says she will let
you have some and it will change the way you look at the party. Your friend is
fine and enjoying yourself so you think it is probably harmless. You take the
pill and once it kicks in you get a sense pf euphoria and a rush of energy. You
feel so connected to everyone around you. What no one tells you is the
harmful effects and dangers you are endangering yourself to.
Molly is a hardcore drug. It can kill you if you are not careful. Yes, it can
help you dance all night but your body will get exhausted and collapse. So

many things can go wrong. Overdose is a possibility of molly. The main

component of its dangers is how cut it is as a drug. Many

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drugs are laced or cut with other things but molly is notorious for its impurity.
You never know how many drugs or which drugs are in it. There are many
serious acute and chronic effects. Its highly addictive and is usually taken
orally. Its most common form is a pill and they can be all different colors and
each has a popular trademark logo on them. One of the most recent ones is
the snapchat ghost.
Some of the neurotransmitters involved are serotonin, dopamine, and
norepinephrine. The pump of serotonin causes negative effects to the brain
and body. It makes you confused, depressed, and anxious. Also, because it
gives you so much energy it makes it really hard to sleep so abusers develop
sleeping problems. There are pros and cons to every drug but when the cons
can be deadly, the drug should be controlled. There are many cases of
people being sent to hospitals from molly. You can take a trip to the
emergency room the first time you take it even. Molly is known for the
connection it creates among users. It makes you feel as though you can trust
a complete stranger. Unfriendly faces are unrecognizable to someone with an
MDMA high. Which can be a good and bad thing of course. It is good because
you will feel more loved and that everyone around you is a friend. That would

make any experience more enjoyable. It can also be good for people with
trust issues and social anxiety. The con would be that someone could easily
take advantage of the user because they would trust them when they
shouldnt. Not being able to detect other peoples emotions and feelings
towards you can

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be bad because you would not get the hint that they do not want to be
around you. You could be talking someones ear off but you would not know
that because your brain is not functioning as it should. Molly has some good
qualities of course, that is why it is so popular. However, it is very dangerous
and has many negative side effects. (MDMA facts)
When I was doing my research for my NIDA report on molly I found a
controversy about how the drug is glamourized, by celebrities especially. It is
in many pop songs such as Miley Cyrus We Cant Stop. Indirectly
advertising such a drug has obvious problems. Most things do not need to be
censored because of freedom of speech so celebrities and people in the
spotlight can say whatever they want about the drug and unintentionally
popularize it. Hardcore drugs should not be glamorized. It increases the
popularity of them and the chances of youth trying it out. (truth about molly)
Parents are super protective of their children usually and for good
reason. The struggle of trying to get your parents to let you go to parties is

real. They always warn you of the dangers of potential bad decisions that
could arise that you do not even think about it. The scenario I described in
the second paragraph is a possibility for any teenager. Molly is a party drug.
It was popularized at raves because they go all night. Many of the rave-goers
do not realize what it does to them and their bodies. It gives you the energy
but it does not change the way your body handles things. So what happens is
that you keep dancing for extended periods of time and your body gets
exhausted but you do not realize it because of the euphoric sense you are
feeling. You get dehydrated also without realizing it until it is too late and you
pass out.
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Educating the youth about the dangers will hopefully prevent these things
from happening. They need to be aware of the dangers so they can be
careful if they do decide to take the drug. Education is key.
What needs to be taught is the basics. What even is Molly? Molly is a
synthetic drug that hasnt been tested and is cut with other drugs. What
does it do? It stimulates your central nervous system, giving you a euphoric
high. Death has been reported. Often, the down come of the drug causes
terrible depression. Increases in heartbeat and blood pressure are common
also. Other things it can do include constricting blood vessels and sweating,
which can prevent the body from being able to regulate body temperature.
Who uses this drug? Most commonly, teenagers. Because it is trafficked at

raves and parties for youth usually. Anyone can fall down that path though.
What does it look like? Almost every drug can be altered for every type of
consumption. And molly is no different. Its most common form is powder or
capsules. The powder is usually white and then the capsules are all different
colors with many different logos on them. (Wikipedia)
What makes it so dangerous? Molly is a fairly new drug so it is a little
different than MDMA because you do not know what you are taking or the
dosage. The manufacturers do not take into account how it will affect the
user when they make it. You are playing Russian roulette when you take one
of these compounds. There has been so many different drug compounds
emerging. The DEA is having trouble keeping track of them and determining
what each one does. Where do the chemicals come from? Because it is a
synthetic drug, its chemicals
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come from laboratories. Most are made in China, along with everything else
seems like it. They are sold online to anyone around the world who wants
them. As mentioned, not only is the DEA having difficulties keeping track of
the chemicals but law enforcement is struggling keeping track as well. They
claim that they emerge quicker than how quickly they get banned. Whenever
they discover a new compound and ban it, another one or more pop up. It is
incredibly difficult to stay caught up and know information about the new
compounds emerging. What they have discovered though is that even

though the recipe is kept, it has no medicinal benefits whatsoever. The

chemicals were originally discovered by a legitimate scientist working on a
new medication. Which as I said did not work out because of its hallucinogen
powers. It is shocking the amount of compounds created and combinations
made up just to get people high according to the article. (Wikipedia)
There are so many things that people need to know about molly. There
are many questions people have and I cannot answer all of them but I will
answer a few more questions that should be addressed about this drug. How
widespread is the problem? How common the drug is and how fast it is
spreading and how/if its popularity is growing is important information.
Huge. The synthetic drug market is the fastest emerging drug problem in
the United States. Molly has spread to every state in the country. It is a
growing problem in Australia, New Zealand, and Europe now as well. These
drug traffickers make so much money so to them that is worth the risk of
getting caught. It is after all a multi-billionaire business. What is being done
about it? Congress passed the Synthetic Drug Abuse Prevention Act in July
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2012, which controlled 26 substances by name. But because there are
hundreds of these compounds, whenever one is made illegal, the chemists
just alter it into another uncontrolled substance. Why cant the government
just make it illegal? The top thing in the way is that these chemical
compounds are legal in China. But they are trying to work something out

with their government. How can you tell if someone is using or has used?
Because molly is so impure and no capsule is the same, it really depends.
Some common systems that usually occur however are sweating, jaw
clenching, violent or bizarre behavior, along with psychosis. Also, because
the body was to exhausted and had unusual sleeping patterns, the person
usually is not able to get out of bed. (Wikipedia)
Not everyone that uses the drug becomes addicted or dangerous to
society. These stories do happen and more often than you think however, not
to everyone. It is hard to be careful with a drug that has so many variables.
What they can do though is choose the setting and their surroundings.
Because most of mollys potential harm is derived from its settings. Like I
mentioned earlier, the people around you are not as friendly as one on an
MDMA high would hope. That could potentially put them in many dangerous
scenarios if they are not careful. People on this drug need to drink lots of
water so they dont exhaust their bodies because they will not feel it.
However, there are dangers to drinking too much water on this drug. A
common case is hypothermia. The body overheats but you cannot overdose
from that. It blocks your sweating so you cannot release some of the
temperature you are feeling inside your body.

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As far as therapeutic and medicinal uses, there are different results. I

am seeing articles claim that there are none while other claim there are. I
think that it could potentially be useful if controlled for mental issues. I do
not think it would be as helpful for psychical purpose. The drug originally was
discovered by psychotherapists actually. They were using it to break shy
people out of their shells and to help them with other social issues. At that
time when it became legal for medical purposes, it made the penalty and
enforcement of the drug stronger for rave and partying use. Music festivals
are also very common places where you would find the drug. (MDMA facts)
Molly is pretty recent for such a popular drug. Its popularity grew
rapidly and continues to. It is extremely similar to ecstasy or MDMA because
that is what is derived from. The sole difference is how impure molly is.
Ecstasy is more controlled and there is more information on it and the
dosage along with what is in it is a lot easier to detect. I would conclude that
molly is the more dangerous of the two. (MDMA facts)
The popular party drug molly makes everything more amped up and
creates a euphoric high making all experiences more enjoyable. Not only that
but it makes you feel a lot more loose and comfortable in your environment.
It creates a trip due to its hallucinogen powers making people depressed
when it ends. They wish that they could experience it again. Although molly
can change your experiences and the way you view situations it can be very
dangerous if one is not careful. You can overdose on this drug and you can
get sent to the hospital or get

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hypothermia. A high is not worth anyones life or safety. If someone, decides
to take that risk I would hope that they would educate themselves with the
information listed above to insure some knowledge and maybe helping them
realize not to take the drug. All in all, it continues to grow but it we can
educate people to be careful or to avoid it entirely. (Drug facts)

Sources:
"MDMA (Ecstasy or Molly)." <i>DrugFacts:</i>. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2015.
"MDMA ("Ecstasy," "Molly") Facts." <i>MDMA</i>. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct.
2015.
"The Truth About Molly, One of America's Top Party Drugs." <i>Alternet</i>.
N.p., 29 Mar. 2013. Web. 28 Oct. 2015.
"Drug 'Molly' Is Taking a Party Toll in the United States." <i>Fox News</i>.
FOX News Network, 30 Sept. 2013. Web. 28 Oct. 2015.
<i>Wikipedia</i>. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2015.