Is There a Bad Batch of Molly Killing People in the Northeast?

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Gabrielle Bluestone

09/07/13 04:13PM

Filed to: Molly

After four MDMA-related deaths and scores of overdose in New York, Boston, and DC last weekend, investigators are now trying to figure out whether the adverse reactions were all tied to a single bad batch.

At least four people died after taking molly last weekend; Brittany Flannigan, 19, overdosed at Boston's House of Blues; Jeffrey Russ, 23, and Olivia Rotondo, 20, overdosed at the Electric Zoo Music Festival in New York; and Mary "Shelley" Goldsmith, 19, overdosed at a nightclub in DC.

Molly, another term for MDMA, comes from the word "molecular" and is supposed to connote purity. In actuality, however, molly is usually cut with substances as innocuous as baby powder or as harmful as rat poison. Whether due to poor quality or merely the drugs' new ubiquity, however, poison control centers have reported an uptick in MDMA cases.

But even if there is a bad batch floating around, it's unlikely that all the deaths were tied it. Although investigators say the Boston overdoses were tied to molly bought out of state, Rotondo allegedly told EMS workers before she died that she had taken six hits, and police believe that Russ took a different set of drugs.

[image via Shutterstock]

The following replies are approved. To see additional replies that are pending approval, click Show Pending. Warning: These may contain graphic material.

19

Astigmatism Gabrielle Bluestone 09/07/13 05:04PM

Ugh, what a fucking waste.

Kids: you're young, as beautiful as you're ever going to be, and at a party with a bunch of your friends, with your whole lives ahead of you. Is that really so dour a prospect that it's worth gambling with your life on the unidentifiable substance being sold to you by a criminal to improve it?

hatbob Astigmatism 09/07/13 05:17PM

You must be fun at parties.

Hot-Banana Astigmatism 09/07/13 05:21PM

Hey Old Guy, where is your sense of adventure?

30

phunkshun Astigmatism 09/07/13 05:45PM

As someone who hypothetically had a gas of a time doing ecstasy quite frequently back in the day...Yes.

Yes, it's totally worth gambling with. It really is. There's nothing else like it. Makes pretty much all other drugs, including LSD, seem like a cheap date in comparison. There just really is nothing else like it out there. I recommend everyone try it at least once with a group of friends before they die.

Seriously, it is that good.

2

Bruxellandia phunkshun 09/07/13 06:04PM

So it's worth overdosing and killing yourself for a momentary high?

Uh, okay.

39

99Telep☺dpr☹blems Gabrielle Bluestone 09/07/13 04:31PM

Looks like everyone who has been taking this Molly...

...gets the hatchet.

18

Yukon Kizmiaz 99Telep☺dpr☹blems 09/07/13 04:48PM

Looks likes whoever tries this MDMA...

...ends up DOA.

This image was lost some time after publication, but you can still view it here.

YEEEEEAAAAHHH!

7

Hello_Madam_President 99Telep☺dpr☹blems 09/07/13 05:09PM

You're WELCOME for this. Use it wisely.

99Telep☺dpr☹blems Hello_Madam_President 09/07/13 05:12PM

Thanks!

1

patsysweety Yukon Kizmiaz 09/07/13 08:11PM

I always love a good Horatio one liner. They really make you think. Think about how lame your sunglasses are.

6

raincoaster Gabrielle Bluestone 09/07/13 10:17PM

Hang on, were they overdoses, or did they die from poisoning? THEY ARE DIFFERENT THINGS. It's possible to OD on pure MDMA, and when you say "overdose" that is what you are saying; that there was too much MDMA in their systems and they died from that.

That is not the same as them dying because the stuff was cut with something other than MDMA that was poisonous in the dosage they took.

2

blackraen raincoaster 09/08/13 01:52AM

The actual toxicology reports are never publicized because it usually undermines the mass hysteria that the media and law enforcement PR departments try to induce when it comes to drugs, so we won't actually know.

In my experience though this incident is most likely due to a specific dealer who sold some good quality methamphetamine as MDMA. Subsequently the deaths are individuals who had taken a good amount of MDMA over the previous week or two (up to two months really) who were following the escalating usage profile and overdosed on meth as a result.

To explain, MDMA's "high" works as a two-fold action — first MDMA will bind to serotonin reuptake transports to block the reabsorption of serotonin that is already in play. It then also causes a flush of stored serotonin causing over-stimulation of serotonin receptors. Serotonin will then end up primarily being flushed or broken-down before the reuptake transports are cleared and the post-MDMA high results in depleted stores of serotonin. Serotonin stores can take weeks to build back up to original levels and so repeated usage of MDMA will cause severely reduced levels of "high" as the body simply doesn't have as much serotonin available. (There is also completing studies that suggest possible receptor damage though due to the Scheduling of MDMA as a control substance, they are not comprehensive studies of a firm or conclusive nature yet.)

Ultimately a short term repeat MDMA user will escalate their dosage levels drastically trying to eek every single last bit of serotonin out of their system. Also, because of the action that methamphetamine has as a dopamine and serotonin stimulator, the initial effects can cause someone who thinks they are dosing with MDMA to assume they are the same, but because the ultimate action is very different they may view the high not being as intense as they wanted and will increase their dosing.

Any ways, after reading about these incidents and applying my non-professional experiences that would be my analysis for what is ultimately responsible for these deaths. You can also be sure that the author of an article has no idea what they're saying when they say "rat poison" as a cutting agent. Ridiculous.

raincoaster blackraen 09/09/13 04:23AM

Thank you, that's quite fascinating. I'm wondering if the cases of toxic adulterants that the last few years have seen in coke, for eg, are accident or policy, either of governments protecting the War on Drugs, or dealers who want to hot shot someone...but why?

1

blackraen raincoaster 09/09/13 05:40AM

Most cases where adulterants are cited are not actually due to any dealer level "cutting" activity and is usually not even supported by testing of confiscated materials or the affected victims.

In 9 out of 10 cases the cause of medical emergency or death is either due to outright overdosing (in cases where the source chemical can be overdosed) or the victim actually taking multiple drugs that have conflicting (or synergetic) effects, or simply having a pre-existing medical condition.

In cases where poisoning actually is the cause, again the vast majority of cases are due to improper synthesis and either a different drug being the result or contaminates in the drug that are harmful. Notably most synthesis related contaminates would be present in quantities that means the individual affect ingested large quantities of the drug and probably reached clinical overdose levels (on a per kg basis) anyways.

Anytime you see a report of adulterants being the cause of a drug fatality, it should immediately raise red flags that what you're reading is probably at best mis-informed writing, and at worst intentionally misleading.

In the end, when it comes to adulterants, you need to look at basic market practices to understand why it's not common to poison your product:

Poisoning customers does not lead to return business.
Adulterants are used to extend how much product you have to sell so adulterant should be cheap, easy to obtain, and inert

In my experience, the best recommendation was to cut using baking soda, flour, or sugar. Not only were these easy and cheap to come by (as in, they're already in your cupboard), you're not going to get sick from handling them and nobody else is going to get sick either.

The suggestion that an 'active' chemical is used to cut product so that you can trick someone into thinking they're getting a better dose than they really are isn't really common since this means you also had something else on hand. The only situation where I've really ever seen any common practice along those lines is in the meth market where you'll get some assholes that grind up caffeine pills.

But yeah, in the end, the real question is "why?" Just selling what you have and lying about it being more is usually the easiest way to go at the street level.

raincoaster blackraen 09/09/13 06:10AM

But there WAS that large amount of adulterated coke from what, three years ago? I actually talked to a dealer who was heartsick that one of his customers ended up in the hospital from it; he had NO idea what was wrong with it, but lots of people were getting sick and even dying. Where does that come from? All I can think is either a very cold government wanting to protect its drug-fighting budget by scaring people OR a rival cartel poisoning someone's product so the buyers switch sources.

And there was botulism in the heroin two years ago in Vancouver, although that was probably just a byproduct of poor handling.

And of course, there was the moron I used to know who liked to cut her coke with Tide, because it gave the high a hallucinogenic edge. There's always an oversupply of morons.

14

Perhaps Not Gabrielle Bluestone 09/07/13 04:19PM

It's super easy to fuck up your electrolytes, work your heart really, really hard, and then keel over and die with too much MDMA, for what it's worth.

26

pmarble Perhaps Not 09/07/13 04:24PM

Source please? Because everything I've read on the subject says pretty much the exact opposite — that not only is it not "super-easy" to overdose on MDMA, the drug in its pure form is in fact among the least harmful out there.

12

Perhaps Not pmarble 09/07/13 04:27PM

It has to do with sustained use over long periods of time. I have no idea what you've been reading but I bet it wasn't medical journals. Here, go nuts.

http://www.health.gov.au/internet/publi…

13

jesusweptagainhttp://gawker.com/# Perhaps Not 09/07/13 04:29PM

Hey, can you even prove they took MDMA?

Here is the REAL problem. Methylone, Methyl 1, Mephedrone and other "research chemicals" are often passed off as MDMA(what molly should be). So then folks think its safe to eat however much of this that they usually eat of MDMA and they get have a variety of problems leading all the way up to death depending on how much was taken. You didn't have these rash of problems 10 years ago before the most recent rush of research chemicals hit the market. These labs in China, India and other countries are sending in these "bath salt" drugs that people are selling as molly BY THE POUNDS. I'm surprised this kind of shit hasn't happened earlier, soon as these "bath salts" were being sold in convenient stores. It isn't real MDMA that is hurting people, it is LIARS and CROOKS selling FAKE dangerous drugs as MDMA. :(

1

Steve garlic Perhaps Not 09/07/13 04:31PM

Actually its pretty hard to do that with most forms of mdma/molly/e. From what I remember there were some mdma related deaths related to dehydration but it was more attributable to the people dancing/sweating for hours on end. The dehydration effects from mdma itself are not that dangerous.

I'd gather this is a case of a bad batch that effects certain people in a negative way. That said mdma is not 100% safe. All recent studies have shown it to be neurotoxic, though the end results of the neurotoxicity have not been established.