Drug Question - What is Molly?

[BKS]

Hi all,

I just saw a post my difficult child did about his room-mate doing lines of "Molly". I looked it up and saw that it is MDMA or Ecstasy in its most pure form.

Does anyone how this drug use progresses? Is it highly addictive, like heroin? Or is it more recreational, like pot?

Thanks,
BKS

 

[Nancy]

I'm sorry I have no experience with this drug but it sure is frightening when you read about our difficult child's talking about this stuff.

Nancy

 

[InsaneCdn]

I'm no expert, but... Ecstasy is NOT "recreational like pot".
It's a manufactured chemical compound, and while I don't know where it is on the addictive scale, I do know that it is dangerous.

I know. They argue that pot is "natural"... but so are a raft of poisons, and besides that, today's pot isn't the pot of 200 years ago, or even of the 60s and 70s... it's been made far more potent. It isn't exactly "safe" either, but... E is worse.

 

[BKS]

Thanks InsaneCdn,

I realize you are right about pot and its potency, as well as the fact that its use is the doorway into experimentation with other drugs. Perhaps no drug should be labeled recreational, really.

Thanks again,
BKS

 

[susiestar]

Ecstasy is HIGHLY dangerous. It makes you feel really happy and 'loving' and like you want to have sex with everyone. Or that is what I have been told by several people who used it a lot. Of course that leaves you open to some very dangerous behaviors and unable to really protect yourself from those would would assault you sexually.

What no one tells you about ecstasy is that it destroys your ability to be happy - for a very long time. I am not sure of the exact mechanism in the brain, but it either permanently binds to the seritonin receptors or it burns them out so that they don't work and then you end up with a real need for a medication like prozac that works on the remaining seritonin receptors or else you are pretty much permanently depressed. I used to know some people who used it very often and they ALL have a major need fr ssri medications and constant depression even with ssri medications. Most of them have had several suicide attempts.

One side effect of ecstasy that is particularly easy to see is grinding your teeth. It is why you see people at raves with pacifiers - it helps keep them from wearing their teeth all the way down and having serious dental problems. I don't think the pacifiers are as common now as they used to be, but an adult iwth a pacifier or an Occupational Therapist (OT) chewy tube/necklace/etc...who doesn't have a history of Occupational Therapist (OT) sensory issues would be a red flag, in my opinion.

Ecstacy is being mixed with other drugs now, esp viagra and cocaine/crack or even pcp or lsd and that makes it even more dangerous.

 

[PatriotsGirl]

I think crystal meth and ecstacy have same ingredients or similar. Dangerous stuff....

As for pot being a gateway, not sure how much I believe that. I certainly know many people who only smoke pot and do nothing else. In my opinion, cigarettes and alcohol are more of a gateway. Most kids I knew tried cigarettes and/or alochol and graduated from there. Pot may be the first one that is against the law, but I do not think it is the first drug kids try...and in my opinion, the legal ones are far more dangerous.

 

[DDD]

I asked former easy child/difficult child (the drug dealer, sigh) and he sad "wow not even the thugs in the worst part of town would use Molly...it can kill you". Sorry. From experience I know how horrible it is to worry about your child and drugs. I lived that for years and it actually has taken a serious toll on my health. on the other hand "it is what it is" and your son is WAY beyond recreational drugs. Sending honestly caring hugs your way. DDD

 

[DammitJanet]

One thing that has made me feel a little bit better is when I have asked Cory about some of the drugs I have read about on here he hasnt even known what I was talking about. Pot can be a gateway drug for some with addictive personalities but it is something that can be stopped without intervention if the person is motivated.

 

[rubyq]

Molly is ecstasy, ecstasy is MDMA. The MA in MDMA stands for methamphetamine because the chemical structure of MDMA is the exact same as the chemical structure of methamphetamine with just two extra molecules added on.

MDMA is not addictive. It is generally seen as a "soft" drug, placed in the same category as drugs like weed, LSD, and mushrooms. Not in the category as drugs like heroin, meth, and crack. MDMA is not laced with other drugs because it is taken orally as a pill and drugs like crack, heroin, and meth are largely inactive when taken orally. So even if a pill of MDMA was for some reason laced with one of these drugs the user would only feel the MDMA. Think about how these other drugs are used for a second, heroin is injected, crack is snorted, meth is smoked, none of these drugs are ever eaten. Also, it makes no sense for someone to lace MDMA with a drug like heroin because people who take MDMA take it to stay up and dance and heroin is not the ideal drug for their purpose.

The head of the NHS in Britain was fired from his position after his studies showed that taking MDMA was actually safer than riding a horse. The BBC show "Top 20 Most Dangerous Drugs" put ecstasy at number eighteen. Drugs like nicotine and alcohol were rated as more dangerous. Here is that list. numner 1 is the most dangerous and number 20 is the least dangerous.

1. Heroin A
3. Cocaine A
5. Barbiturates (Sedatives) B
7. Methadone (Opioid) A
9. Alcohol Legal
11. Ketamine C
13. Benzodiazepines (Sedatives) C
15. Amphetamine (Speed) B
16. Tobacco legal
18. Buprenorphine (Opioid) C
20. Cannabis C
22. Solvents Legal
24. 4-methylthioamphetamine (amphetamine derivative) A
26. LSD A
28. Methylphenidate(Ritalin) B
30. Anabolic steroids C
32. Gamma 4-hydroxybutyric acid (depressant, “date-rape drug”) C
34. Ecstasy A
36. Amyl Nitrate (nitrite inhalants, “poppers”) Legal
38. Khat (plant-derived stimulant) Legal (illegal in USA)

The real problem with kids using MDMA isn't the drug itself, it's the people that they're around when doing the drug and the harder drugs it could potentially lead to. Personally I have known many people who used MDMA and never used anything harder, who kept their good jobs and graduated college and went on to live normal, successful lives.

 

[toughlovin]

I wonder why meth wasnt on the list? Is chrystal meth not a problem in britain?

TL

 

[SuZir]

I wonder why meth wasnt on the list? Is chrystal meth not a problem in britain?

I don't know about British situation, but in my corner of Europe meth is almost non-existent. We have last had a meth problem right after WW2. Our worst drug problems are benzo abuse, using them with alcohol, heroine and it's substitutes (substitutes are nowadays bigger problem because there is little heroin in market) and amphetamine. Ecstasy, gamma and pot are also around but use of them tends to be more recreational.

 

[rubyq]

Meth is an amphetamine, methamphetamine. Placed at number 8.

 

[toughlovin]

I am curious to know more about the study and how they evaluated dangerousness. From what I hear (but dont know personally) many people feel that crystal meth is worse than heroin. It is very addictive as well. So I am surprised it is #8 on the list.

TL

 

[rubyq]

The list was made by experts in different fields based upon harm done to the individual.

Meth is extremely psychologically addictive but the drugs that were ranked above number 8 on the list are extremely psychologically and physically addictive. With the exception of buprenophine at number 10 (aka suboxone or subutex which are used like methadone to treat narcotics addiction) all of the drugs that cause physical withdrawal symptoms are 1-7. What I take that to mean is that meth likely would have been rated higher but it wasn't because meth addicts can suddenly stop taking the drug with no medical supervision and suffer no ill effects. So when you look at it like that meth was actually ranked very high, right up there with the drugs that can kill people who suddenly stop them. Also meth has been linked to very few deaths because generally (unless taken by someone with a heart defect) it is almost impossible to overdose on. This is also because most addicts smoke the drug and therefore they feel the effects instantly so they won't take that next hit. When heroin addicts shoot up they often don't know how pure the drug is or how much they can physically handle, this puts them at an extreme risk of overdose. The same is true with the pills that ranked high on the list, because they take time to start working addicts can more thinking they haven't taken enough when in reality they just haven't waited long enough. Those pills also cause withdrawals almost or just as bad as heroin.

 

[SuZir]

Meth and speed used in Europe are not totally same. Both are amphetamines but different kinds. Apparently speed is little less potent and 'safer.' It doesn't cause quite as much problems as meth.

 

[toughlovin]

Hmm wondering what happened to Rubys response to my post. Clearly it was deleted fro some reason... was that because it was inaccurate or for some other reason? I found it informative.

TL

 

[rubyq]

Speed is slang for methamphetamine. Sometime "speed" can be used to describe very potent and well cooked meth, sometimes "speed" is used to describe very poorly made and less potent meth. It just depends on the slang in your area. But speed is meth and meth is speed. Here is the definition:

Methamphetamine (USAN) (

/ˌmɛθæmˈfɛtəmiːn/), also known as metamfetamine (INN),[SUP][2][/SUP] meth, ice, speed, crystal, glass, Pro, tik, N-methylamphetamine, methylamphetamine, and desoxyephedrine, is a psychostimulant of the phenethylamine and amphetamine class ofpsychoactive drugs.

Speed or sometimes crank is also used to describe meth made in the 80's and 90's, back when cold medicine was unregulated. Biker gangs were largely responsible for making and distributing this type of meth. Today, due to the regulations placed on buying cold medicine containing pseudoephidrine, meth cooks often use different chemicals which aren't really worth going into. Meth, speed, crank, etc. all refer to the same chemical compound. The words are used interchangeably today. However, the users of certain areas oftentimes have a rating system for how potent they perceive a batch to be and what may mean "awesome" in one area will mean "terrible" in another. Chemically there is no difference, they are all the same compound, the purity of which is different with each batch produced by clandestine home cooks.

 

[Nancy]

What reply TL? The only thing deleted was the attachment included in his reply and the verbage before it. We normally do not allow attachments in our posts and there was no citing of where the information came from. If there was something else deleted he must have deleted that himself. Lately we have had several new members posting in this forum who happened to come across it and felt the need to inform us about drugs and then delete their posts.

 

[toughlovin]

OK maybe it was just too early in the morning because it is back again...so maybe I just didnt see it.

I didnt realize that meth was not physically addictive, I was under the impression that it was and that it was more addictive than heroin.

TL

 

[SuZir]

Speed is slang for methamphetamine.

Oh, okay. I'm not familiar with Birttish drug slang. Around here it is not. Speed here is usually mix of levoamphetamine and (mostly) dextroamphetamine and all kinds of other stuff (like caffeine, fructose etc.) Methamphetamine is stronger stuff and not really used at all here. What druggies call speed is used a lot. But as I said, I'm not in Britain, but in other part of northern side of Europe.

But it is true that amphetamines don't really cause much of physical dependence, addiction is mostly psychological.