Dear Alice,

What is the difference between molly and ecstasy? On my college campus people keep saying that they take molly. I think they are just taking ecstasy because they act the same. How could they even know what is inside the pill anyway?

— High on life and life alone

Dear High on life and life alone,

The health impact of any drug depends on how it's used, who's using it, how much is used, and under what circumstances. Ecstasy and molly, also known as MDMA, are no exception. The most obvious difference between the two is their physical form: Molly is a white powder or crystal–like substance and ecstasy is used to describe the pill or capsule form of MDMA. Users often take molly or ecstasy for the effects of MDMA, a synthetic, psychoactive drug that produces feelings of euphoria, increased energy, and empathy; however, both ecstasy and molly often contain other substances besides MDMA (anything from sugar and caffeine to methamphetamines and cocaine).


Here are some additional things to consider when comparing molly and ecstasy:

  • Molly has developed a reputation as being of higher quality and more costly than ecstasy pills — though this is not necessarily a deserved reputation because molly can be also be cut with fillers or other potential drugs at any time in the process since it is in a powder form.

For more information on ecstasy or other drugs, check out other Q&As in the Go Ask Alice! Alcohol, Nicotine, and Other Drugs archive.


Submit a new response

Plain text

  • No HTML tags allowed.
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
By submitting this form, you accept the Mollom privacy policy.

Vertical Tabs