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Confusion about what’s in “club drugs,” who’s making them and how they affect the user are raising concerns, a substance-abuse specialist said Wednesday.

Ecstasy, Molly, And MDMA In Santa Clarita

Confusion about what’s in “club drugs” like Ecstasy, who’s making them and how they affect the user are raising concerns, a substance-abuse specialist said Wednesday.


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Santa Clarita, like the rest of the world, has had its fair share of drug problems, and one drug that has been around for a long time is Ecstasy, said Cary Quashen, founder and CEO of Action Family Counseling.

“The biggest problem with these drugs is we don’t know who is making them, or what’s actually in them,” Quashen said. “The dealers making them are only in it to make money, so the ingredients and how they affect you are very unpredictable.”

Molly is a popular form of Ecstasy, with people believing that it is pure MDMA, the main component in Ecstasy, Quashen said. But, as with all illegal drugs, it’s very hard to know exactly what is in what you’re taking.

The DEA says only 13 percent of the Molly seized in New York state the last four years actually contained any MDMA, and even then, it often was mixed with other drugs, according to a recent CNN news article. The drugs frequently found in Molly are Methylone, MDPV, 4-MEC, 4-MMC, Pentedrone and MePP. 

The lab-created chemicals found in Molly mimic the effects of MDMA; most of them are central nervous system stimulants that cause euphoric highs, according to a CNN report.

They can also cause a rapid heartbeat, high blood pressure, blood vessel constriction and sweating, and can prevent the body from regulating temperature. Some of the chemicals have been reported to cause intense, prolonged panic attacks, psychosis and seizures. Several of these compounds have caused deaths.

After the drugs wear off, the chemicals can cause devastating depression, paranoia, and anxiety, Quashen said. The drug affects the users serotonin levels, and those affected levels can last forever.

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MDMA can affect the brain by altering the activity of chemical messengers, or neurotransmitters, which enable nerve cells in the brain to communicate with one another, according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse. Research in animals has shown that MDMA in moderate to high doses can be toxic to nerve cells that contain serotonin and can cause long-lasting damage to them.

“Everyone should know that all drug abuse starts out innocently,” Quashen said, “and it can end tragically.” 

If you or anyone you know has an addiction, contact Action Family Counseling here.

About Action Family Counseling

Action Family Counseling has drug and alcohol residential treatment locations in Santa Clarita, Piru, and Bakersfield; Intensive Drug and Alcohol Outpatient in Santa Clarita, Simi Valley, Ventura, Pasadena, and Bakersfield, Action Family Counseling is here to help you.

Action Family Counseling’s primary goals are to maintain abstinence, stabilize co-occurring illnesses, and increase quality of life. We support and reinforce change in behavior patterns so that adolescents and adults, or clients and their families can fully indoctrinate the philosophies and principles needed to remain abstinent and stabilized for life.

Action Family Counseling accomplishes this by providing an effective treatment approach developed by the Department of Health and Human Services that includes a multi-disciplinarian personalized approach by a treatment team. Once a patient is identified, we provide an initial screening and assessment, which allows us to properly diagnose and place patients in the appropriate treatment setting.

Once a patient completes our intake process to our residential program he or she receives 24-hour crisis management, individual counseling, group therapy, family education and counseling, treatment planning, routine and random toxicology screening, pharmacotherapy and medication management, education about Alcohol and Other Drugs and mental health issues, self-help and support group orientation, case management services, and discharge service planning with a transitional service plan to our Intensive Outpatient treatment program to ensure a continuum of care. 

CNN contributed to this story. 

KHTS AM 1220 - Santa Clarita Radio

Ecstasy, Molly, And MDMA In Santa Clarita

One comment

  1. It’s sad to see these brightly colored pills doing so much damage. Why would anyone put anything in their mouth without a clue as to what was actually in them and who was making them. When I was a kid we ate little colorful heart candies that had a variety of nice sayings on them like “I love you”. What have we done (or not done) as parents that has created this destructive environment for our children?

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About Kimberly Beers

Kimberly Beers is a Santa Clarita native. She received her Bachelor's Degree in Journalism from California State University, Northridge in 2013. While attending the university, she focused her attention on news writing and worked as a primary news writer for the campus' award winning radio station and televised news program. She began writing news stories for KHTS in 2014 and hopes to have a lifetime career dedicated to writing and sharing the news