Fact Check

DId Oregon Become the First State to Legalize Molly?

The decision was purportedly met with controversy, but "no more or less than the original decision to legalize marijuana."

Published Feb. 20, 2015

Claim:
Oregon has become the first state to legalize the street drug Molly.

On 20 February 2015, the news and satire website That Oregon Life published an article titled "Oregon Becomes First State to Legalize Molly," reporting that incoming governor Kate Brown planned to legalize the recreational street drug by the end of 2015:

Oregon has been in the news all year for legalizing marijuana for recreational use, and legalizing weed is only the beginning. Following the heels of the wave of marijuana legalization, some might be surprised to hear the Oregon state legislature has decided to legalize the popular street drug Molly. Recreational use of Molly will become fully legal in the state by the end of the year.

The decision was met with controversy, but "no more or less than the original decision to legalize marijuana," Governor Kate Brown stated. The state is still figuring out some guidelines and ground rules for suppliers, such as purity levels, permits, and health code requirements.

The captions accompanying the article's images were clearly tongue-in-cheek: The first photograph was captioned "'everybody trippin' like they poppin' molly' shouted Kate Brown."

That Oregon Life publishes material that includes satire, as its disclaimer page explains:

That Oregon Life writes a variety of articles, including News (marked with News at the top in bold), satire, photography, features, places to visit, Oregon trips, and humor. While the Satire posts are not marked, the true news posts are and you can look for NEWS at the top to see if it's real or not.

Kim LaCapria is a former writer for Snopes.