Is Molly Addictive?
Molly is the crystalline form of the drug MDMA, also known as Ecstasy. It’s a favorite with people who want to dance the night away at nightclubs, dance clubs, music festivals or raves. It’s a strong stimulant—so strong that some people are stimulated into fatally overheated conditions.
While Ecstasy has been around for a long time, Molly only hit the market in the last decade. It was originally marketed as a solution for the poor quality of most of the pills being sold as Ecstasy. Many pills said to contain Ecstasy continued only a little of this drug plus several other drugs, or contained no MDMA at all. When Molly was first on the market, what was said was that it was pure MDMA. That may have been true for a while but soon, batches of the drug said to be Molly were found to contain a variety of other drugs. When buying illicit drugs, you have no guarantees at all of quality or purity.
What are the Signs of Molly Use?
Because it is a strong stimulant, a person’s heart rate, blood pressure and temperature will increase. If they use this drug while at an outdoor music festival (most of which are held in summer), they run the risk of overheating. Even indoor at a nightclub, if a person dances for hours, they can overheat. During many major music festivals, there are a few individuals taken to nearby hospitals in an overheated condition. In most cases, Ecstasy was one of the drugs or the only drug they used.
How is Molly Used?
Molly will look like a whitish crystalline powder. It is usually sold packaged into capsules. The capsule is swallowed or the powder can be snorted.
If a person buys Ecstasy in pill form, the pills are normally brightly colored and stamped with a logo or an image. These pills are swallowed. When a person wants to keep partying for hours or all day or night, Molly or Ecstasy will be taken repeatedly, every three to six hours or so.
Effects of Molly
In addition to being a stimulant, MDMA has mild hallucinogenic qualities. Time perception may be distorted. One’s perception of touch, hearing and sight will be enhanced so that being touched, listening to music or watching light shows will be more pleasurable. This is why music venues have elaborate light shows and hand out glowing sticks and necklaces to patrons.
This is also why men at music events may look for vulnerable women and give them MDMA. Ecstasy is an entactogen and empathogen, fancy words meaning that the drug makes being touched feel especially good and that it creates an artificial sense of empathy with and love for others. A woman given Ecstasy may feel that the man she’s just met is the love of her life and she will do anything for him. But when the drug wears off, she may swear never to go to a club and do drugs again. Her cravings for the drug may drive her back the next weekend, no matter what she decides during the middle of the week.
Other effects include:
- Muscle tension
- Tremors
- Teeth clenching
- Muscle cramps
- Nausea
- Blurred vision
- Confusion
- Anxiety
- Paranoia
- Memory and attention problems
- Decreased sleep and appetite
- Aggression
MDMA users often experience strong cravings for more of the drug. There’s a comedown after the drug wears off that can be brutal, with feelings of depression, irritability and tiredness. A person who takes Molly or Ecstasy all weekend who is battered by depression on Tuesday morning when the drug wears off can be temped to start taking this drug during the week, just to feel a little better.
Addictiveness of Molly
Not everyone agrees that Molly is addictive. After all, a person coming off this drug does not exhibit severe signs of withdrawal like those coming off heroin. But there are other ways to measure its addictiveness. Does a person keep using this drug even though his (or her) life is being damaged by its use? Is he compulsively craving and using more of this drug, even after swearing he will never touch it again? Is he using it more frequently, despite experiencing negative effects and harm? Is his use out of control?
You’ll find all these signs among heavy Molly users. This drug so seriously affects the serotonin levels in the brain that the desire to feel good again will drive some users to consume more of the drug even if they don’t think it’s wise to do so.
While Molly itself manifests definite signs of addictiveness, it’s also common for users to combine MDMA use with other drugs. This situation can be very hard on a person’s mental or physical health or hasten their arrival at full-blown addiction.
Popular drug combinations:
- MDMA and ketamine—ketamine is a veterinary anesthetic that tends to severely disassociate a person from their current environment
- MDMA and alcohol—can intensify dehydration and increase risk of overheating
- MDMA and marijuana—can increase anxiety and paranoia
- MDMA and LSD—both are stimulants and hallucinogens which can result in a terrifyingly intense experience
- MDMA and cocaine—can be life-threatening due to severe strain placed on the heart and arteries
Recovering from Molly Addiction
Fortunately, recovering from Molly addiction does not take special treatment. A drug rehab program that helps a person find his or her way out of addiction to alcohol, marijuana, opioids or any other drug can help a person make his or her way back to sobriety after addiction to Molly.
Any person desiring rehabilitation after addiction finds it necessary to change the locations they visit and the company they keep. It is the same for a person recovering from addiction to Molly. This person will need to find other entertainments than going to music festivals or nightclubs. Otherwise, they will find themselves surrounded by other people using Molly, stimulants, ketamine, LSD, alcohol or other drugs and staying sober will be just about impossible.
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