TALLAHASSEE –There is a growing threat in the area with an unassuming name: Molly.
WCTV reported earlier this week about a man who was going door-to-door in a Tallahassee neighborhood, breaking into homes. That man was later shot and killed by a homeowner.
Authorities suspect that man was on a drug called ‘Molly.’
Molly is a concentrated form of ecstasy, and it’s gaining popularity on the streets of Tallahassee.
It began as a club drug, but has now made its way onto area streets.
The Tallahassee Police Department told WCTV that Molly is the third most confiscated drug in the city, right behind marijuana and cocaine.
Molly began, according to the report, as a synthetic stimulant that used to be known as “pure” MDMA. But experts say that’s not the case anymore.
“They start with the least dangerous chemical compounds. And as they’ve tried to skirt the law throughout the years, they’ve started going to the more and more dangerous chemicals,” Scott Beck of the Tallahassee Police Department told WCTV.
“You can have some components of meth that are in it. We’ve seen that they’re mixing it with PCP that’s causing people to hallucinate. They’re mixing it with meth. They’re mixing it with codeine,” according to Freda King, a case manager who operates a re-entry program for inmates with drug offenses. She told WCTV the side effects of Molly can be disorienting at best, and life-threatening at worst.
“Hypernatremia, which means your body isn’t regulating the temperature because we’re supposed to sweat. So then they consume a lot of water which causes the brain to swell, which can cause them to go into a coma, which can cause them to die,” King, said.
Community leaders say that Molly has become a major issue in low-income neighborhoods, with some people taking the drug up to five times a day.
“It keeps the person doing whatever they have to do to get the drug. That’s the scary part,” outreach specialist Minister Nettie Walker Palmore said in the report. “Then there’s a lot of little children that are missing mom and dad because of the drug. That’s the heart wrenching part.”
The National Institute on Drug Abuse says that the most effective treatment for MDMA abuse is cognitive behavioral interventions and support groups.
TPD says that the drug is especially popular with young people.
The report notes that police advise if you’re a concerned parent, look for a change in behavior or change in friend groups, missing large sums of money, and paraphernalia such as small ziploc bags.
