What Does the Drug Ecstasy Look Like?

Ecstasy is an illicit recreational drug that contains the active ingredient MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine). It's related to both stimulant and hallucinogenic drugs and produces both types of effects, making it a popular party drug. Ecstasy in power form is often called Molly.

The drug comes in a wide variety of sizes, shapes, and colors, so it can be helpful to know what the most common forms of ecstasy look like—particularly if someone offers you a pill or if you're a parent or caregiver of a child or teenager who may be exposed to the drug. The following are some examples of what ecstasy can look like.

Ecstasy Comes in Many Varieties

Variety of ecstasy pills — U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration

One reason there's such variation in the appearance of ecstasy is that different ingredients are used to bind the crystalline powder into a pill or tablet form and to extend the ingredients. This is also one of the greatest dangers when it comes to ecstasy—you can never really know what these pills contain.

In addition to differences in color, size, and shape, the pills often are stamped or imprinted with unique logos. These logos and imprints help build a following for ecstasy made in specific labs. Bright colors also make it more appealing, especially to young people.

The following examples of Ecstasy pills show their range of appearance.

Triangular MDMA Tablets Marked With an "X"

Ecstasy pills in a person's hand — Diverse Images / Getting Images

This MDMA pill has a fancy letter X stamped into it, likely referring to ecstasy (XTC). Ecstasy usually comes in 50mg to 150mg tablets that are either swallowed whole or crushed and snorted.

Most of the ecstasy pills sold on the street in the United States are manufactured abroad. Sources are often illegal labs in Canada and the Netherlands, where enforcement is not as strict as in the United States. Illegal labs in the U.S. have far more difficulty in obtaining the precursors, which are well-monitored by the industrial chemical industry.

Speckled Ecstasy Tablet With Fish Imprint

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration

Pure MDMA has a crystalline appearance. When made into tablet form, other ingredients are added to bind it together.

One of the dangers of ecstasy is that there is no way to know what drugs and how much of the drug is in each tablet, which can lead to dangerous interactions with other drugs and accidental overdose.

Other substances and fillers are often added to ecstasy pills as a way to cut costs and maximize profits. Some pills may only contain small amounts of MDMA, while some might not contain any at all. The substances that are often included in these pills may sometimes mimic the effects of MDMA, but they can also present serious dangers.

The tablets might contain methamphetamine, cocaine, piperazine, synthetic cathinones ("bath salts"), or any number of different chemical contaminants. This pill with a fish logo is similar to a batch seized in Greece.

While research is limited, some evidence suggests that ecstasy in powder form known as Molly is frequently so adulterated with other substances that it often contains little to no actual MDMA.

Off-White Ecstasy Tablet With Crow's Foot Symbol

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration

Illegal labs imprint symbols into their ecstasy tablets as "logos" to build a following. Different imprints may even be given different names. These imprints may influence purchasing decisions based on reputation or past experience with a particular product.

For example, When other people take a pill and experience negative effects, they may share this information with others. These imprints may sometimes help people avoid certain pills that have become known for presenting dangers.

Blue Ecstasy Tablet With Butterfly Imprint

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration

The butterfly imprint on these MDMA pills looks innocuous, even fun—and that's by design. This sort of branding is often used by the illegal lab where the ecstasy was produced to try appeal to a younger market.

Yellow Ecstasy Tablet With Space Shuttle Symbol

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration

This MDMA tablet has a Space Shuttle imprint, which might indicate how spacey or high it promises to make the user. This example is similar to one found in San Francisco.

White Ecstasy Tablet With Star Dust Imprint

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration

This ecstasy tablet has a "Star Dust" imprint. It might refer to the glam rock days of David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust. Reports are that it came from a lab in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The imprints allow people to share their experiences with different pills online and on social media.

Ecstasy Tablet With Thumbs Up Logo

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration

The "thumbs up" logo has been seen in many different variations on MDMA tablets. Some of them have tested as including MDA rather than MDMA. You can never know from batch to batch what is in illegally-manufactured pills, even those with the same logo.

Ecstasy pills can cause a range of physical effects including rapid heartbeat, blood vessel constriction, sweating, problems regulating body temperature, and high blood pressure. People sometimes experience seizures and frightening panic attacks.

Triangular Ecstasy Tablet With "X" Logo

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration

While round is a popular, ecstasy tablets may come in other shapes as well. This tablet has an X on it for "ecstasy" or "extasy." Other tablet shapes include hearts, triangles, oblong squares, and squares. They may also be shaped like animals or cartoon characters, similar to popular chewable vitamin products for children.

Identification Resources

There are a number of online resources that may be helpful if you need to identify a pill that you believe may be ecstasy.

Pillreports.net is a large ecstasy pill database, where people can search based on both color and name. The site also contains reports written by users detailing chemical test results and observed effects based on use.
Dance Safe is a website that offers information on a variety of drugs. You can also purchase drug checking kits to test for adulterants that are often added to MDMA pills, which often includes other drugs like caffeine and amphetamine.
KnowDrugs App is designed to help people avoid bad batches of ecstasy tablets. The app contains information about drug testing and pill testing results and is aimed at harm reduction. The app also provides information about what to do in the event of a drug-related emergency.

A Word From Verywell

If you suspect that a pill offered by a friend or found in your teen's room is ecstasy, it may or may not be that drug. The bottom line is that you take a very large risk when taking a pill that was manufactured illegally. You can never know what is really in the pill or how it might affect your body. Even if you try to check it out online, you can't be sure that the batch you have in your hand will have the same active ingredients.

If you or a loved one are struggling with substance use or addiction, contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline at 1-800-662-4357 for information on support and treatment facilities in your area.

For more mental health resources, see our National Helpline Database.