METHYLENEDIOXYMETHAMPHETAM

INE (MDMA) AKA MOLLY

NATALIE BOUAPHA
HEALTH 1050-003

WHAT IS MDMA?
A SYNTHETIC DRUG THAT ALTERS MOOD AND PERCEPTION (AWARENESS OF
SURROUNDING OBJECTS AND CONDITIONS).
IT IS CHEMICALLY SIMILAR TO BOTH STIMULANTS AND HALLUCINOGENS,
PRODUCING FEELINGS OF INCREASED ENERGY, PLEASURE, EMOTIONAL
WARMTH, AND DISTORTED SENSORY AND TIME PERCEPTION.
MDMA WAS INITIALLY POPULAR IN THE NIGHTCLUB SCENE AND AT ALL-NIGHT
DANCE PARTIES ("RAVES"), BUT THE DRUG IS NOW KNOWN AS ECSTASY OR
MOLLY.

WHAT IS MOLLY?
IT IS THE STREET NAME GIVEN TO THE PURE FORM OF MDMA.
ITS NAME IS DERIVED FROM THE WORD MOLECULE.
A DRUG COMMONLY ABUSED AT CLUBS OR RAVES, BUT IS ALSO ABUSED IN
OTHER VENUES.

WHO INVENTED MOLLY?

THE MAN WHO FIRST SYNTHESIZED
MDMA WAS THE CHEMIST DR. ANTON
KLLISCH, WHO WORKED FOR THE
GERMAN PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANY
MERCK.
HE CREATED MDMA AS A BY-PRODUCT
WHILE TRYING TO SYNTHESIZE
HYDRASTININ, A STYPTIC SUBSTANCE. IN
1912, MERCK FILED TO PATENT THE
APPLIED METHOD OF PREPARATION.

HOW IS MOLLY MADE?

THE ATOMIC STRUCTURE OF THE COMPOUND RESEMBLES A COMBINATION
OF METHAMPHETAMINE AND MESCALINE.
MDMA REFERS TO THIS COMPLEX CHEMICAL STRUCTURE, WHICH IS WRITTEN
IN SCIENTIFIC NOTATION AS 3-4 METHYLENEDIOXYMETHAMPHETAMINE.

HOW DO PEOPLE USE IT?

PEOPLE WHO USE MDMA USUALLY TAKE IT AS A CAPSULE OR TABLET,
THOUGH SOME SWALLOW IT IN LIQUID FORM OR SNORT THE POWDER.
MOLLY IS REFERRED TO THE SUPPOSEDLY "PURE" CRYSTALLINE POWDER
FORM OF MDMA, USUALLY SOLD IN CAPSULES.
THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO PURCHASE POWDER OR CAPSULES SOLD AS MOLLY
OFTEN ACTUALLY GET OTHER DRUGS SUCH AS SYNTHETIC
CATHINONE'S(BATH SALTS).

STREET NAMES
ECSTASY

HUG

BEANS

XTC

CLARITY

LOVES SPEED

ADAM

THE LOVE DRUG

WHO USES THE DRUG?

MOLLY IS BEING MARKETED TO YOUNG FIRST-TIME DRUG ABUSERS BETWEEN
THE AGES OF 12 AND 17.
PEOPLE WHO PARTIES; SUCH AS RAVES, DANCING TO EDM MUSIC AT THE
CLUBS, ETC.
BASICALLY ANYONE WHO LIKES TO PARTY AND HAVE A GREAT TIME WHILE
THEY ARE OUT.

MOLLY VS. ECSTASY

ECSTASY

MOLLY

A SYNTHETIC, MIND-ALTERING DRUG THAT ACTS BOTH

AS A STIMULANT AND A HALLUCINOGENIC. OTHER
CHEMICALS, SUCH AS CAFFEINE, DEXTROMETHORPHAN
(DXM), AMPHETAMINES, PCP, OR COCAINE ARE
SOMETIMES ADDED TO, OR SUBSTITUTED FOR MDMA.

THE POWDER OR CRYSTAL FORM OF

MDMA, THE CHEMICAL USED IN
ECSTASY.

ECSTASY IS USUALLY SWALLOWED IN PILL FORM, BUT

CAN ALSO BE CRUSHED AND SNORTED, INJECTED, OR
USED IN SUPPOSITORY FORM.

MOLLY IS TAKEN IN PILL FORM.

PROBLEM?
CURRENTLY THE USE OF MDMA OR COMMONLY KNOWN AS ECSTASY OR MOLLY IS A HUGE
WIDESPREAD PROBLEM.
THE CHEMICALS IN MOLLY HAVE BEEN FOUND IN NEARLY ALL OF THE UNITED STATES.
MOLLY IS A MULTIBILLION DOLLAR BUSINESS AND CONTINUES TO BE A GROWING PROBLEM.
CONGRESS HAD PASSED THE SYNTHETIC DRUG ABUSE PREVENTION ACT IN 2012 OF JULY AND HAS
HELPED CONTROL MANY COMPOUNDS.
HUNDREDS OF OTHER COMPOUNDS ARE HARD TO CONTROL BECAUSE MANY CHEMISTS CONTINUE
TO PRODUCE NEW FORMS OF DRUGS.
THE U.S. HAD DISCUSS THE ISSUE WITH THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT, BUT MOST OF THE
CHEMICALS ARE LEGAL IN CHINA.

WHAT MAKES IT DANGEROUS?

MANY KIDS IN TODAYS SOCIETY ARE TAKING MOLLY OR WHAT THEY THINK IS A PURE FORM OF MOLLY.
MANY FORMS OF MOLLY ARE TOXIC BECAUSE THEY CONTAIN A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT DRUGS.
MANY USERS ARE UNAWARE OF WHAT THEY ARE TAKING AND WHAT THE DOSAGE MIGHT BE.
CHEMICALS SUCH AS BATH SALTS, CAFFEINE, COCAINE, DEXTROMETHORPHAN, AMPHETAMINES, AND
MORE ARE COMMONLY FOUND ADDED TO MDMA.
FREQUENT USE OF MDMA CAN DAMAGE THE SEROTONIN NEURONS IN THE BRAIN.
SEROTONIN HELPS REGULATE MOOD, MEMORY, SLEEP, AND APPETITE AND HEAVY MDMA USE CAN
AFFECT ALL OF THOSE THINGS.
MDMA USERS MIGHT EXPERIENCE SIMILAR PROBLEMS THAT COCAINE AND AMPHETAMINE USERS
MIGHT FACE, WHICH INCLUDES ADDICTION.

WHERE DO THE CHEMICALS COME

FROM?
MANY OF THE CHEMICALS FOUND IN MDMA ARE MADE IN LABORATORIES FROM CHINA.
THE DRUGS ARE COMMONLY SOLD ONLINE THROUGHOUT UNITED STATES.
DEA SAYS IT HAS BEEN EXTREMELY HARD TO TRACK WITH THE GROWING NUMBERS OF
CHEMICAL COMPONENTS IN THESE SYNTHETIC DRUGS.
THE DEA HAS SEEN 200 INDIVIDUAL CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS SINCE 2009 AND 80 NEW
COMPOUNDS SINCE 2012.
ONCE ONE DRUG IS DISCOVERED AND BANNED ANOTHER DRUG IS FOUND AND
CREATED TO TAKE ITS PLACE.

HOW DOES IT AFFECT THE BRAIN?

MDMA INCREASES THE ACTIVITY OF THREE BRAIN CHEMICALS:
- DOPAMINE: CAUSES A SURGE IN EUPHORIA AND INCREASED
ENERGY/ACTIVITY.
- NOREPINEPHRINE: INCREASES HEART RATE AND BLOOD PRESSURE,
WHICH ARE PARTICULARLY RISKY FOR PEOPLE WITH HEART AND BLOOD
VESSEL PROBLEMS.
- SEROTONIN: AFFECTS MOOD, APPETITE, SLEEP, AND OTHER FUNCTIONS.
IT ALSO
TRIGGERS HORMONES THAT AFFECT SEXUAL AROUSAL AND TRUST.
THE RELEASE OF LARGE AMOUNTS OF SEROTONIN LIKELY CAUSES
THEEMOTIONAL CLOSENESS, ELEVATED MOOD, AND EMPATHY FELT BY
THOSE WHO USE MDMA.

SHORT TERM EFFECTS

- IMPAIRED JUDGMENT

- DRUG CRAVINGS

- FALSE SENSE OF AFFECTION

- NAUSEA

- CONFUSION

- BLURRED VISION

- RESTLESSNESS

- FAINTNESS, CHILLS, SWELLING

- SLEEP PROBLEMS

- TEETH CLENCHING

- SEVERE ANXIETY

- PARANOIA

- LACK OF APPETITE

- THIRST

LONG TERM EFFECTS

- BRAIN DAMAGE

- PSYCHOSIS

- DEGENERATED NERVE BRANCHES &

ENDINGS

- CARDIOVASCULAR COLLAPSE

- DEPRESSION, ANXIETY, MEMORY

LOSS

- DEATH

- KIDNEY FAILURE
- LOSS OF APPETITE

- CONVULSIONS
- TROUBLE SLEEPING
- LESS INTEREST IN SEX

OVERDOSE
OVERDOSE AMOUNT: 1G AND ABOVE
SYMPTOMS:
- DISORIENTATION
- CONFUSION
- MEMORY LAPSE
- COMA
- DEATH
- INCREASED BREATHING/RUNNING OUT OF BREATH

CONCERNS ON MOLLY?
BAD BATCHES ARE FAR TOO COMMON (REMEMBER THE DRUG IS MAN
MADE!)
PEOPLE ARE DYING USING MOLLY (OR ECSTASY)
CELEBRITIES ARE GLAMORIZING THE DRUG
PEOPLE ARE NOT EDUCATED ENOUGH ABOUT THE DRUG

TREATMENT/HELP?
CURRENTLY THERE ARE NO FDA APPROVED MEDICATIONS BECAUSE IT IS A
CONFLICTING DEBATE WHETHER MDMA IS ADDICTIVE.
BEHAVIORAL THERAPIES HAVE BEEN USED TO TREAT INDIVIDUALS BUT MORE
RESEARCH NEEDS TO BE CONDUCTED TO SEE IF THIS TREATMENT IS
HELPFUL.
DRUG ABUSE SUPPORT GROUPS MIGHT ALSO BE AFFECTIVE.

ALL IN ALL!
MOLLY IS NOT A NEW DRUG.
MOLLY HAS MANY NEGATIVE HEALTH EFFECTS THAT CAN POTENTIALLY BE
DEADLY.
MOLLY IS SUPPOSED TO BE THE PURE FORM OF MDMA (ECSTASY), BUT EVEN
THAT IS UP FOR DEBATE.

WORKS CITED
"MDMA (ECSTASY/MOLLY)."DRUGFACTS:. N.P., FEB. 2016. WEB. 09 OCT. 2016.
<HTTPS://WWW.DRUGABUSE.GOV/PUBLICATIONS/DRUGFACTS/MDMAECSTASYMOLLY>.
"WATCH TRUTH ABOUT DRUGS DOCUMENTARY VIDEO & LEARN ABOUT
SUBSTANCE ADDICTION.
GET THE FACTS ABOUT PAINKILLERS, MARIJUANA,
COCAINE, METH & OTHER ILLEGAL DRUGS."FOUNDATION FOR A DRUG-FREE
WORLD. N.P., N.D. WEB. 09 OCT. 2016.
"9 THINGS EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THE DRUG MOLLY." CNN. CABLE
NEWS NETWORK, 09 OCT. 2016. WEB.
<HTTP://WWW.CNN.COM/2013/11/22/HEALTH/9- THINGS-MOLLY-DRUG/>.