Russian youths trapped by deadly weight-loss drugs.

Earlier this year in Russia, images and videos of a pill went viral on TikTok. It was said to cause rapid weight loss. The pill is called “Molecule.”

In various videos on social media, people showed blue boxes arranged in refrigerators. The hologram-decorated box was labeled  Molecule Plus.

As young people began sharing their weight-loss experiences on social media, sales of Molecule surged. But the pill’s dark side soon came to light.
 

Maria, a 22-year-old from Saint Petersburg, bought Molecule from a popular online seller. Within two weeks of taking two pills a day, her mouth went dry. She completely lost her appetite.

“My whole desire to eat or drink vanished. I was under severe nervous tension; I bit my lips and chewed my cheeks,” Maria said.

As young people posted their weight-loss experiences, Molecule’s sales skyrocketed. Within two weeks Maria’s anxiety, insomnia, and depression increased. “The pills had a terrible effect on my mental health,” she said.

Maria was not prepared for such severe side effects. Other TikTok users reported pupil dilation, trembling hands, and sleeplessness as side effects. At least three school students had to be hospitalized.
 

Last April, a schoolgirl in Chita, Siberia, was admitted to hospital after taking an excessive amount of Molecule. Local media reported that the girl wanted to lose weight quickly before summer.
 

One schoolgirl’s mother said her daughter took several pills at once and was admitted to the ICU. In May, a 13-year-old boy in Saint Petersburg was repeatedly hospitalized with hallucinations and panic attacks after taking the pill; he had asked a friend to buy it for him online because he was mocked at school about his weight.

On the Molecule box, the ingredients list claims “natural components” such as dandelion root and fennel seed extracts. But earlier this year, journalists from Russian paper Izvestia sent online-bought pills for testing and found the banned substance sibutramine in them.
 

Sibutramine was originally used in the 1980s as an antidepressant and later marketed as an appetite suppressant. Studies show it increases the risk of heart disease and stroke, although it does cause some weight loss.

Sibutramine was banned in the United States in 2010. It is now illegal in many places, including the UK, the European Union, and China.
 

In Russia, buying or selling sibutramine without a doctor’s prescription is a crime. Still, many individuals and small businesses sell it widely online without prescriptions.

A 20-day supply of Molecule costs six to seven pounds (eight to nine dollars). This is much cheaper than popular weight-loss injections in the Russian market such as Ozempic. A month’s worth of Ozempic injections costs between £40 and £160 ($50–$210).
 

Zhenya Solovyova, an endocrinologist in Saint Petersburg, warned that taking such drugs without a prescription is extremely dangerous.

Some people in Russia have already been imprisoned for illegally selling Molecule. But authorities are finding it hard to control the illicit trade.
 

In April, the government-backed group Safe Internet League issued warnings about increased use of Molecule among young people, prompting several major online marketplaces to remove it. Within a short time it reappeared under a new name, Atom  its box looking just like Molecule’s.
 

Meanwhile, various online communities focused on eating disorders have become platforms for promoting Molecule. They use specific hashtags and secret signals to advertise the drug.

Zhenya Solovyova warned that Molecule is especially harmful for young people who already suffer from eating disorders.