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Schumer Wants Crackdown On 'Molly' Drug

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Following the deaths of two people who overdosed on the drug "Molly" at a concert festival, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) is calling for a crackdown on the form of ecstasy.

As WCBS 880's Monica Miller reported, Schumer announced Sunday that he is asking the New York and New Jersey High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area group to zero in on Molly labs.

"The use of this dangerous drug, Molly, which is often contaminated with even worse drugs unbeknownst to the user, is skyrocketing," Schumer said.

Schumer Wants Crackdown On 'Molly' Drug

He is also pushing legislation to give the federal government greater ability to ban a wide range of chemicals that go into these kinds of drugs.

"The drug user takes one molecule, one little addition to that drug, (which) makes it even worse, and that drug is not banned," Schumer said.

Jeffrey Russ, 23, of Rochester, N.Y., and Olivia Rotondo, 20, of Providence, R.I., overdosed while attending the Electric Zoo Music Festival on Randalls Island on Aug. 31. The festival's final day was canceled as a result.

Electric Zoo victims
Jeff Russ, left, and Olivia Rotondo (credit: Facebook)

According to the Office of Chief Medical Examiner, Rotondo died of acute methylenedioxymethamphetamine intoxication with hyperthermia. Russ succumbed to acute intoxication by the combined effects of methylenedioxymethamphetimine and methylone with hyperthermia.

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