Pubdate: Mon, 28 Jul 2008
Source: Winnipeg Free Press (CN MB)
Copyright: 2008 Winnipeg Free Press
Contact: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/info/letters/index.html
Website: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/502
Author: Meghan Hurley
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?241 (Methamphetamine - Canada)

DESIGNER DRUG KILLS YOUNG 'JOKESTER'

He's remembered as a funny guy who loved making movies, playing video 
games and entertaining family and friends.

Eddy Smith was only 15 when he died last month from an overdose of a 
highly toxic "designer drug."

His death was the most tragic incident of four recent cases that 
involved young people who thought they were popping an ecstasy pill. 
Instead, the pill contained "an unknown quantity of 
methamphetamine... which may be contributing to the medical 
conditions of the individuals," according to Winnipeg police.

It prompted officers to issue a warning to children and their parents 
to stay away from drugs.

Smith, who died on June 14, was raised in Winnipeg and went to TecVoc 
High School. He was learning the roofing trade, according to his obituary.

"Eddy was our resident jokester, he enjoyed making each and every one 
of us a subject of his movie-making and kept us all in stitches, 
laughing that is," his obituary said.

"Never a dull moment with Eddy in the house."

Smith's biggest love of all was fishing at the Gimli Pier or in Lockport.

Smith's funeral was held on June 21 at the Immanuel Lutheran Church 
in Winnipeg, according to a memorial site set up on the networking 
site Bebo. Dozens of friends posted messages on the site.

"You don't even know how cool of a bro you were to everyone," one 
friend wrote on the site. "The last person anyone thought wud leave 
us wuz you man."

According to a media report, Smith was in the care of Peguis Child 
and Family Services. However, a friend told the Free Press Smith had 
been taken from his biological parents when he was a newborn, and had 
been living with his foster parents for a significant period of time. 
Sunday afternoon, no one answered the door at the Tyndall Park home 
where the couple lives, and the curtains remained drawn.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom