4 Students Charged In Rash Of Molly Overdoses At Wesleyan University
MIDDLETOWN, Conn. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Four Wesleyan University students have been arrested and charged in connection with multiple overdoses on the party drug known as Molly on campus.
The students were identified as Eric Lonergan, 21, Andrew Olson, 20, Zachary Kramer, 21, and Rama Agha Al Kakib, 20, CBS affiliate WFSB-TV, Hartford reported.
Warrants were issued for all four students' arrests, and they were all in custody as of 8 p.m. Tuesday, WFSB reported.
The charges against the students include possessing a controlled substance, illegally obtaining or supplying drugs, selling a hallucinogen and possessing drug paraphernalia.
Ten Wesleyan students and two visitors to the school received medical treatment after taking the drug, the university said. Some of them had attended a rave music show Saturday night.
The university first became aware of the problem early Sunday after several students showed up seeking treatment at a hospital near campus, university spokeswoman Lauren Rubenstein said. Two students listed in critical condition Sunday were airlifted for treatment in Hartford, 20 miles north of the campus in Middletown.
Police officers searched locations in and around Wesleyan's campus to collect evidence in the case, Chief William McKenna said.
Wesleyan president Michael Roth said the university takes drug distribution allegations seriously and is cooperating with authorities.
Roth had sent a letter to people on campus asking for help: ``If you are aware of people distributing these substances, please let someone know before more people are hurt,'' it said.
The drug, a refined and more powerful form of Ecstasy (MDMA), can drive up body temperature and cause liver, kidney or cardiovascular failure.
"Unfortunately there is no specific antidote for this medicine, and so if they are in critical condition -- which would suggest that they probably have had the kidney injury or the liver injury -- and so the care at this point for them would be supportive," Dr. Michael Werdman, an emergency physician at Bridgeport Hospital, told WCBS 880 Connecticut Bureau Chief Fran Schneidau.
Werdman, who is not treating the Wesleyan students, said recovery will depend on the body's ability to come back on its own after the drug has been thoroughly flushed out.
It was not the first such episode this year at the private university of nearly 3,000 students.
Wesleyan health officials said in a campus-wide email on Sept. 16 that students had been hospitalized the previous two weekends after taking Molly. Students were urged to visit the school's health center if they had questions or concerns.
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