<P> The use of MDMA in Texas clubs declined rapidly after criminalization, although by 1991 the drug remained popular among young middle - class whites and in nightclubs . In 1985, MDMA use became associated with Acid House on the Spanish island of Ibiza . Thereafter in the late 1980s, the drug spread alongside rave culture to the UK and then to other European and American cities . Illicit MDMA use became increasingly widespread among young adults in universities and later, in high schools . Since the mid-1990s, MDMA has become the most widely used amphetamine - type drug by college students and teenagers . MDMA became one of the four most widely used illicit drugs in the US, along with cocaine, heroin, and cannabis . According to some estimates as of 2004, only marijuana attracts more first time users in the US . </P> <P> After MDMA was criminalized, most medical use stopped, although some therapists continued to prescribe the drug illegally . Later, Charles Grob initiated an ascending - dose safety study in healthy volunteers . Subsequent legally - approved MDMA studies in humans have taken place in the US . in Detroit (Wayne State University), Chicago (University of Chicago), San Francisco (UCSF and California Pacific Medical Center), Baltimore (NIDA--NIH Intramural Program), and South Carolina, as well as in Switzerland (University Hospital of Psychiatry, Zürich), the Netherlands (Maastricht University), and Spain (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona). </P> <P> "Molly", short for' molecule', was recognized as a slang term for crystalline or powder MDMA in the 2000s . </P> <P> In 2010, the BBC reported that use of MDMA had decreased in the UK in previous years . This may be due to increased seizures during use and decreased production of the precursor chemicals used to manufacture MDMA . Unwitting substitution with other drugs, such as mephedrone and methamphetamine, as well as legal alternatives to MDMA, such as BZP, MDPV, and methylone, are also thought to have contributed to its decrease in popularity . </P>

Where did the name molly come from for the drug