Pubdate: Fri, 30 Dec 2011
Source: Calgary Herald (CN AB)
Copyright: 2011 Canwest Publishing Inc.
Contact: http://www2.canada.com/calgaryherald/letters.html
Website: http://www.calgaryherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/66
Author: Meghan Potkins
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy)

ECSTASY DEATHS SPARK HEALTH ALERT

Three ecstasy-related deaths, including two young men in the days 
leading up to Christmas, and dozens of alarming ER visits have health 
officials warning Calgarians about the dangers of the street drug.

Police are still investigating the two most recent deaths - both men, 
aged 18 and 25, believed to have died after taking the drug last week.

And on Thursday, Alberta Health Services issued a warning to the public.

"People need to be aware of the extreme danger of ingesting this 
drug," said Dr. Judy MacDonald, medical officer of health for AHS's 
Calgary zone.

"Ecstasy is not only capable of making people very sick, but this 
drug can kill."

The deaths come less than a month after a Calgary teen overdosed on 
ecstasy at a house party in the north-west. Alex Kristof, a Grade 11 
student at Queen Elizabeth High School, was taken to the hospital 
after taking the drug. He died there a few days later, on Nov. 30.

New details emerged Thursday about the circumstances surrounding 
Kristof's death.

Dr. Mark Yarema, medical director for the Poison and Drug Information 
Service, confirmed that several people who had attended a house party 
last month had been treated in hospital after taking ecstasy.

Several "individuals involved in a house party had taken one ecstasy 
pill and those individuals were subsequently treated and released," 
Yarema said. "The individual who died had taken eight ecstasy pills. 
. . . (He) arrived with a very elevated temperature and died several 
days later."

Since April, Calgary emergency and urgent care departments have 
treated more than 100 people for ecstasy-related health concerns.

Although officials couldn't confirm if concerns related to ecstasy 
are be-coming more frequent, Yarema said the cases he has seen are 
getting worse.

"What we're noticing is that the se-verity has increased," said 
Yarema, who also works as an ER physician.

Patients who have an adverse re-action to the drug exhibit a range of 
symptoms, from psychotic behaviour, hallucinations and agitation to 
seizures and elevated body temperatures that can lead to organ 
failure, Yarema said.

"I think that people think that it's no big deal, that it's taken at 
parties, it's taken at raves - 'Other people do it; I'll do it, too,' 
" he said.

Police say part of the problem is that ecstasy, or MDMA, is a cheap 
and accessible drug - making it especially appealing to young people.

"The majority of individuals seem to be in their teens to mid-20s," 
said Staff Sgt. Mike Bossley of the drug unit. "The drug was a 
popular drug for raves in the past, but that has changed and now 
we're seeing it in house parties and much smaller gatherings than 
big, huge, organized events such as raves."

The source and amount of the drug on the street is unknown, said Bossley.

Tablets are often cut with a variety of drugs, including 
methamphetamine, cocaine or ketamine, he said. "This drug is made 
somewhere in a garage or a basement. The chemical com-position is 
different with every pill.

You don't know what you're getting and it's very unsafe."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom