TAMPA —
The popular club drug Molly is making its way to the Bay area, and health professionals say pop culture is partially to blame.
If you type in your favorite artist on YouTube, there’s a chance you’ll hear them singing about Molly. And No Molly isn’t a person. It’s drug that’s becoming more and more popular with young people.
“Molly stands for ‘molecule.’ The kids that use it think they’re getting a pure form of ecstasy,†Hillsborough County Anti-Drug Alliance board member Ellen Snelling said.
Snelling knows all about the old form of the drug. Her daughter had to be hospitalized after taking it.
“I didn’t know if we were going to make it out of there. I didn’t know how bad it was,†she said.
That scare made Snelling join the Hillsborough County Anti-Drug Alliance. The organization helps educate parents and children on the risks of drug use. Especially new ones hitting the streets such as Molly.
Every other year, the Hillsborough County anti-drug alliance sends out a survey middle and high schools to find out which drugs are most popular. Molly will be added to that list this year.
Snelling said the Molly being sold on the streets actually isn’t a pure form of MDMA. Some of it is mixed with other dangerous drugs such as bath salts.
“We’ve seen more than 200 cases in hospital visits show up around Florida,†Florida Poison Control specialist Dr. Tamas Peredy said.
He said many of those cases are in the Bay area.
“It runs the gamut from acute stroke to having a seizure to having an electrolyte imbalance, and you can even experience a heart attack,†Peredy said.
Hillsborough County Deputies said they’re seeing homemade Molly labs popping up more and more. The most recent one was busted this week in Plant City. And experts said it’s dangerous for the people using the drugs and for the people who live nearby.
“You’re risking yourself and your environment to explosion to fire,†Peredy said.
Peredy said the Florida Poison control has more information about Molly. And so does the Hillsborough County Anti-Drug alliance.