Youth urged to avoid the agony of Ecstasy
God’s counsel may be inscrutable to mere mortals, as this Sunday's first reading suggests, but the advice to party-going youth regarding a potent form of the designer drug Ecstasy, called Molly, is clear and urgent: Stay away from it . . .
God’s counsel may be inscrutable to mere mortals, as the first reading suggests this Sunday, but the advice to party-going youth regarding a potent form of the designer drug Ecstasy, called Molly, is clear and urgent: Stay away from it.
The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) is ramping up its efforts against Molly, the powder form of Ecstasy, after numerous overdoses along the East Coast last weekend. “There’s no ‘good batch’ of Molly, MDMA, Ecstasy,” said Anthony Pettigrew, a spokesman for the DEA New England division.
“This is stuff that’s made in somebody’s bathtub in either Asia, the Netherlands, Canada, you have no idea what is in this stuff," he said. "Dealers want to make more money, so they’ll mix and adulterate the stuff with meth and any number of other drugs to addict people to it.”
Whether it's snorted as a powder or swallowed as a capsule, the drug is said to lead to a sudden rush of energy and "feel good" levels of the brain chemical serotonin for 3 to 6 hours. "It produces feelings of increased energy, euphoria, emotional warmth and empathy toward others, and distortions in sensory and time perception," according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse.
The negative side effects are often teeth grinding, dehydration, anxiety, insomnia, fever, and loss of appetite, but even more dangerous ones can occur, including hyperthermia, seizures, high blood pressure, and depression due to the sudden drop in serotonin levels as the drug wears off. Other dangers—not always known by users—arise if it's cut with substances like methamphetamine.
Amid the string of overdoses, DEA offices in New England and other regions are engaging “in a continuous exchange of information” to target those bringing the drug into the country from overseas, said Erin Mulvey, a spokeswoman for the New York DEA.
“We are seeing [Molly] goes hand-in-hand with a lot of nightclub activity, concert venues, areas where there’s a lot of teens listening to music,” she said. “With these overdose deaths and the focus now with trying to get the awareness out, we’re trying to get in front of the problem.”
Homily hint: Our culture is awash in pharmaceuticals—some of them prescribed for illnesses, others bought and sold for “recreation.” But our God calls us to freedom. Encourage families and loved ones to have open, frank conversations about drugs so that problems can be addressed before they develop or worsen.
The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) is ramping up its efforts against Molly, the powder form of Ecstasy, after numerous overdoses along the East Coast last weekend. “There’s no ‘good batch’ of Molly, MDMA, Ecstasy,” said Anthony Pettigrew, a spokesman for the DEA New England division.
“This is stuff that’s made in somebody’s bathtub in either Asia, the Netherlands, Canada, you have no idea what is in this stuff," he said. "Dealers want to make more money, so they’ll mix and adulterate the stuff with meth and any number of other drugs to addict people to it.”
Whether it's snorted as a powder or swallowed as a capsule, the drug is said to lead to a sudden rush of energy and "feel good" levels of the brain chemical serotonin for 3 to 6 hours. "It produces feelings of increased energy, euphoria, emotional warmth and empathy toward others, and distortions in sensory and time perception," according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse.
The negative side effects are often teeth grinding, dehydration, anxiety, insomnia, fever, and loss of appetite, but even more dangerous ones can occur, including hyperthermia, seizures, high blood pressure, and depression due to the sudden drop in serotonin levels as the drug wears off. Other dangers—not always known by users—arise if it's cut with substances like methamphetamine.
Amid the string of overdoses, DEA offices in New England and other regions are engaging “in a continuous exchange of information” to target those bringing the drug into the country from overseas, said Erin Mulvey, a spokeswoman for the New York DEA.
“We are seeing [Molly] goes hand-in-hand with a lot of nightclub activity, concert venues, areas where there’s a lot of teens listening to music,” she said. “With these overdose deaths and the focus now with trying to get the awareness out, we’re trying to get in front of the problem.”
Homily hint: Our culture is awash in pharmaceuticals—some of them prescribed for illnesses, others bought and sold for “recreation.” But our God calls us to freedom. Encourage families and loved ones to have open, frank conversations about drugs so that problems can be addressed before they develop or worsen.
Sources: Articles by Jack Encarnacao for the Boston Herald, Kent Sepkowitz
for The Daily Beast, and Nina Golgowski for the New York Daily News