Molly: The New, Dangerous Hip Hop Drug

By Albert Phillips

Watch out Mary Jane, there’s a new woman in town and she seems to be taking the Hip Hop world by storm. Within the last year, rappers like Souljah Boy, Lil Wayne, Kanye West, Rick Ross, and 2 Chainz have all mentioned a white girl named “Molly” in at least one of their songs.

No, she’s not a random white woman that’s being tossed around by musicians. Like Mary Jane, Molly is a street name for a popular drug. Molly is the purest form of 3,4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), an illegal, synthetic, psychoactive drug that has a strong influence on the body’s nervous system.

Synthesized and patented in 1914, some say it may be America’s most popular recreational drug. MDMA is taken orally, usually in tablet or capsule form and typically lasts from 3 to 6 hours.

In the 1970’s the drug was given to psychotherapy patients, but the treatment was halted because animal testing showed that it caused brain damage. During the 1990’s rave scene, the drug was quite common among  party-goers, but it’s reemergence in 2012 is causing many to worry. Already capable of several health risks on its own (seizures, anxiety, depression), it is often  laced with other, sometimes unknown, drugs  which make it even more dangerous.

“It’s like playing a game of chance…you have no idea what’s in it until you take it,” said Linda Surks at the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence of Middlesex County in an interview with New Jersey 101.5.

The Drug Enforcement Administration has classified Molly as a schedule 1 drug, which means it has the potential to be highly abusive and is, for the most part, not approved for medical uses. Marijuana (Mary Jane), Heroin, and all their derivatives are also listed in the schedule 1 category.

So now when you hear Juicy J rap, “take the blunt, dip it in the lean, then light it/Pop a Molly, drink some orange juice, get higher,” you know he’s promoting the use of an illegal substance that can be potentially fatal.

Want some good advice? No matter how nice she sounds, don’t trust that white girl!