Pubdate: Fri, 04 Jan 2008 Source: Windsor Star (CN ON) Copyright: 2008 The Windsor Star Contact: http://www.canada.com/windsor/windsorstar/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/501 Author: Dave Battagello, Staff Writer Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/walters.htm (Walters, John) 'EXTREME' ECSTASY FEARED Drug control officers in Washington have issued a warning across the U.S. about ecstasy pills laced with methamphetamine that are pouring into northern states from Canadian border points, including Windsor. The illegal pills are being "dumped" in several northern border states and then ferried across the country, according to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). CITY 'A REAL CHALLENGE' "Windsor is among those areas on the shared border that poses a real challenge for us," said a top ONDCP official in Washington, who asked not to be named. "Certainly we are very concerned about this combo product coming south. Since this product is popular among the young, it's out there near schools and neighbourhoods. We need people to know this (combined) drug is much more dangerous." Drug enforcement authorities in the U.S. have been working in conjunction with the RCMP to learn of the origins of the ecstasy and meth combo pills, he said. Both countries have had labs analyse recent seizures of the pills. "It is a significant and large-scale problem and something we are very worried about," the U.S. official said. The combination of methamphetamine and ecstasy can have severe health consequences as both have toxic effects on the brain, according to ONDCP. Together, the drugs can interfere with the body's ability to regulate temperature leading to hypothermia, which can result in liver, kidney, and cardiovascular system failure and death. The potential for a life-threatening or fatal overdose is increased when meth-laced ecstasy is combined with alcohol. Dangers for users of ecstasy alone have already been documented, said the Washington drug policy official. UNPREDICTABLE EFFECT "Occasionally somebody will react in such a way they (overdose) and die," he said. "When you spike it with meth, you are causing even more of an unpredictable effect." Despite the U.S. warning, the combination of ecstasy and meth on Windsor's streets has not yet been a noticeable problem, according to a Windsor police officer in the drugs, intelligence and guns unit. Ecstasy has not been much of a problem because it is more lucrative for traffickers to sell the drug in the U.S., where a single pill fetches between $30 and $50 -- up to 10 times the rate on this side of the border, he said. "It is easier to get the precursors to make the drug in Canada," the local officer said. "It is used here, but when we seize it there are usually five or 10 pills. The most was 10,000. It gets shipped to (the U.S.) because they can get so much more for it." China and India have been identified as nearly the exclusive producers of the chemicals needed to make the pills, said the U.S. drug authority. "The chemicals are smuggled into Canada we believe primarily by Asian organized crime groups," he said. "You have criminal groups with ties to those countries who get the raw ingredients across the border to Canada and that has caused problems for both (Canada and U.S.) populations." RCMP estimates that the production capacity of Canadian ecstasy laboratories exceeds two million tablets per week. Law enforcement agencies along the U.S.-Canada border report large increases in the flow of ecstasy from Canada into the U.S. In 2003, 568,220 doses of ecstasy were seized federally in the 10 northern border states; in 2006, more than 5.4 million dosage units were seized. More than 55 per cent of the ecstasy samples seized in the United States last year contained methamphetamine, said ONDCP. John Walters, the U.S. drug czar, called the "extreme ecstasy" a disturbing development. "Historic progress against ecstasy availability and use is in jeopardy of being rolled back by Canadian criminal organizations," he said in a statement Thursday. "Desperate to develop their client base, they are dangerously altering a product for which demand by youth and young adults had plummeted and are exploiting vulnerabilities along our shared border. "This is alarming for the youth of both Canada and the United States." - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin