With Electric Zoo in the news and people all over the city talking about bad Molly, I think it’s time for some harm reduction. STOP EATING SO MUCH FUCKING MOLLY.

Many drugs have non-linear pharmacokinetics. That may mean 20mg is not twice as strong as 10mg, it may be 4 times or even stronger. Other drugs can reveal new side effects at high doses. Save the other capsules or pills for next time. Take just a single dose. It’s not worth the symptoms.

Stop me if this sounds familiar. It starts with a headache, a racing heart and excessive sweating. They become easy to startle and jumpy with anxiety. They’ll display movement problems that may resemble a seizure: muscle rigidity; involuntary, rhythmic movements such as ankle rocking or horizontal eye movements; tremors; twitching; shivering with chattering of the teeth; and are hot to the touch. They may lose consciousness or become unresponsive. Within hours, they may die.

Welcome to serotonin syndrome or serotonin toxicity. A combination of serotonergic drugs that have overwhelmed the body’s internal serotonin balance. If you drink too much water, you get sick, and die. If you do too many serotonergic drugs, you get sick, and die. Our bodies are good at breaking down serotonin, but not perfect, so it’s never a single drug that causes toxicity, but a combination.

What drugs can cause serotonin toxicity when taken together? Where to start… Antidepressants or antianxiety drugs like SSRIs, SNRIs, MAOIs, or Tricyclics; opioids like buprenorphine and tramadol; stimulants like cocaine or Adderall; psychedelics like LSD or MDMA; DXM in cough syrup; herbs like St. Johns Wort and lots more. Are you one of the 1% of New Yorkers without a shrink and a prescription? Maybe a “naturalist” and a pile of herbs and multivitamins? Look up the drugs or herbs you take online to see if they act on serotonin.

How are bad Molly or bath salts involved? “Molly”, “X”, “E” are all 3,4-MethyleneDioxy-N-MethylAmphetamine or MDMA. It has its own special magic, that rush of energy and wave of love. The War on Drugs includes MDMA and its derivatives as banned substances to try and spite us kids. Unlike natural drugs which may require acres of land, MDMA just needs a decent lab and someone with the expertise — the kind of expertise taught in every high level chemistry university course.

Always treat everything you didn’t make yourself in a sparkling clean lab as a possible combination. Being banned means there’s no FDA to answer to. The name of the game is holla holla get dolla by maximizing profits and you can do that by cutting corners. Dirty chemists do not wash their product and leave precursors like MDA in there. That well dressed fellow that your friend knows has cut their limited supply of clean MDMA with meth, cocaine, and even opioids to “mellow” out the harshness of the meth. But that one guy at the club decided to home-brew. He bought other synthetic phenethylamine drugs like methylone, mephedrone, butylone, 6-APB, bath salts, and other research chemicals online for cheap. He’ll mix them together and try to approximate MDMA. Thanks, DEAbama.

They make reagent testing kits that are sold online. These are special chemical liquids that will change colors depending on the drug inside. One problem, it can only test for presence of a substance, not the ratio. Unlike the classy guy your friend has totally known for like years, that guy sells to a post-grad who has access to a Gas Chromatograph/Mass Spectrometer at his University, there’s no way to know entirely what’s inside that pill or capsule.

If you are taking any serotonergic drugs, avoid taking any others. If I cannot stop you, take lower doses than everyone else. Keep an eye on your friends; they don’t know what you know. If you suspect they’ve taken Molly and are displaying these symptoms, it may be serotonin syndrome. Get them to the hospital and tell the doctors that you believe they’ve taken MDMA or Molly. The doctors, nurses and EMTs don’t care about getting you arrested, they want to save their patient’s life. Help them, help yourself.

Have fun; try not to die. For fuck’s sake.

Previously, Backdoor Pharmacist takes ambien, quaaludes, mephedrone, kratom, benzos, smart drugs, more sleeping pills and “bath salts.” Backdoor Pharmacist does not drink coffee.