MARIN TASK FORCE SEES INFLUX OF PARTY DRUG 'MOLLY'

A new party drug appears to be seeping into Marin, similar to ecstasy but
more potent and less widely understood, county investigators said.

The street name is "molly," which some sources describe as a purer form of
ecstasy, and others describe as different substances that mimic ecstasy.
The name molly is said to mean "molecule" or "molecular" - as in a
molecular variation of ecstasy.

Until about a year ago, the Marin County Major Crimes Task Force, the
county's narcotics squad, had never encountered molly during its
undercover operations. Since then, the unit has seized molly seven times
and arrested six people suspected of selling it, according to sheriff's
Sgt. Bruce Baker.

"The unique thing about this, we talked to other task forces, we talked
about it at conventions. Other task forces aren't seeing it and aren't
buying it like we are," Baker said.

Definitions of "molly" vary. In 2003, an announcement by the federal Drug
Enforcement Administration defined the drug as TFMPP, or
1-(3-Trifluoromethylphenyl) piperazine, a powerful hallucinogen. Other
sources describe the drug as a combination of TFMPP and a stimulant called
BZP, or N-benzylpiperazine.

Still others describe it as pure, unalloyed MDMA - the chemical moniker
for the substance known as ecstasy. MDMA causes euphoria and sensory
distortions, but can also produce depression, anxiety, teeth-grinding,
nausea and, in rare cases, organ failure and death, according to the
National Institutes of Health.

"What they call 'ecstasy' is such a wide range of crap it could be
anything," said one self-described former user, a 33-year-old task force
informant who declined to be identified. "Molly should not have anything
else in it - it should be just MDMA."

The informant, a musician, said he first used ecstasy while living in
Southern California and attending all-night raves in the high desert. He
said he did not encounter molly until he moved to Northern California.

"I would say it softens, uninhibits and makes you desire physical
contact," he said. "It makes you want to be embraced. You just want to be
embraced."

He described molly as a bitter powder that is gray or light tan, usually
coming in gelatin capsules of 0.1 grams or 0.3 grams. Prices start around
$15 per capsule, and the high lasts for hours, he said.

"You have to know the right people," he said.

In November, the DEA issued an "intelligence alert" that its Western
Laboratory in San Francisco had received four sets of multilayered,
multicolored candylike rave pills, all containing caffeine. Three of the
sets tested positive for MDMA - ecstasy - while the fourth set were
"ecstasy mimic tablets" that tested positive for TFMPP and BZP.

Special Agent Casey McEnry, spokeswoman for the DEA in San Francisco, said
it is "not uncommon" for the lab to confirm a drug as TFMPP/BZP, but
ecstasy is still much more prevalent. In the DEA's San Francisco field
division, which runs from Bakersfield to Redding, the agency confirmed 1.5
million seized pills as ecstasy from 2006-08, McEnry said.

By comparison, 187,427 pills were confirmed as TFMPP/BZP over that time
period, she said.

Molly can be manufactured from common over-the-counter medications, and
its side effects can include hallucinations, rapid heart rate, dehydration
and even heart failure, according to Marin task force Detective Mike
Brovelli.

"It can be made anywhere: bathrooms, tubs, sinks," Brovelli said.

In one recent investigation, a molly-related arrest by the task force led
to a much larger discovery.

The case involves a 26-year-old man who sold suspected molly to an
undercover task force detective on three occasions between Nov. 14 and 26
in Marin, along with some psychedelic mushrooms, according to court
documents. This led investigators to obtain a search warrant for the man's
residence in Oakland, where they found 11 pounds of processed marijuana,
about $3,000 in cash and two guns, along with a shotgun and a ballistic
vest belonging to the man's roommate, said Baker, the task force sergeant.

The suspect, Jacob Vahit Ergil, has pleaded not guilty and is free on
$50,000 bail. A trial date is pending, and his lawyer, David Pullman,
declined to comment on the allegations.

Baker said the danger with molly is that young rave drug users, accustomed
to ecstasy, move on to molly without appreciating the increased potency.

"That's where you get in a lot of trouble - these kids take ecstasy, and
then they get molly and it's a lot stronger," he said.