2 Dead After OD'ing on 'Molly,' Showing It’s More Dangerous Than Miley Cyrus Makes It Sound

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
by Emily Abbate 3 hours ago

Did you hear the news? Two concert-goers died last weekend. Two young adults by the names of Jeff Russ, 23, and Olivia Rotondo, 22. Not because of some raging stampede at the Electric Zoo electronic music festival over on Randall's Island, which they had probably both been looking forward to for months. But because they took some bad MDMA -- a crazy powerful form of Ecstasy that many people know as Molly (thanks, Miley).

Well I'm here to tell you that this bullshit needs to stop. I've seen the rants on Facebook from people who were planning on attending Sunday's concert, complaining that two people ruined the party for thousands. Get a grip, people. This is bigger than one day of music.

Molly is NOT a joke. It's not something that we should be OK with celebrities "casually" listing off in their songs. If we don't take this fad drug seriously, these two highly talked about overdoses will be just the tip of the iceberg of what's to come.

People take Molly because they want to "let loose" and have a good time. People take Molly because other people are taking Molly. They take it because it seems like the cool thing to do at some sort of music festival just like Electric Zoo. But are the same people that are handing out these pills talking about the potential side effects? Ha. No. They're talking about the carazzayyyyyy trip the user's gonna have. Idiots.

Well let's talk facts. MDMA increases the activity of three neurotransmitters in the brain: serotonin, dopamine, and norephinephrine. It generally makes users feel hyped up, pretty emotional, and euphoric for about three to six hours. Side effects? Sharp frightening elevations in blood pressure and body temperature, intractable seizures, and cardiac arrhythmia. In short: This is some dangerous shit. There's no "safe" way to pop Molly. And whether you're just "trying it" for the first time or a Molly veteran, you have just as much of a chance of ending up like these Zoo-goers.

My stance: Feeling "euphoric" for a little while is in no way worth risking your life. From 2004 to 2008, there was a 74.8 percent increase in MDMA-related visits to the ER. Today? I can't even IMAGINE what kind of skyrocketing numbers are happening. Yeah yeah yeah, anyone could have their life cut short doing everyday things like driving or even walking down the street. But users have gotta be really blind if they think that trying Molly is "no big deal."

Do you agree?

Image via tanjila/Flickr

?