Pubdate: Thu, 12 Jan 2012
Source: Edmonton Journal (CN AB)
Copyright: 2012 The Edmonton Journal
Contact: 
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/opinion/letters/letters-to-the-editor.html
Website: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/134
Author: Meghan Potkin, Calgary Herald

LETHALLY TAINTED ECSTASY LIKELY BEHIND DEATHS

Alberta's Chief Medical Examiner has confirmed that a batch of the 
street drug ecstasy, believed to be behind a spate of recent deaths, 
may have been tainted with a lethal chemical never before seen in 
Calgary by police.

Calgary police and provincial health authorities are again warning 
about the dangers of the drug following the release of preliminary 
toxicology reports into five Calgary-area deaths.

Results show that paramethoxymethamphetamine, or PMMA, and 
methamphetamine, not previously associated with ecstasy, were present 
in toxicology results in each of the overdose deaths, officials said Wednesday.

The compound is believed to be five times more toxic than traditional 
ecstasy, or MDMA, health officials said.

"What we're finding in this case is that people were getting 
something very different than what they though they were," said Dr. 
Mark Yarema, medical director for the Poison and Drug Information 
Service and a Calgary emergency room physician.

In each case, police say overdose victims believed they were 
ingesting ecstasy, or MDMA, not PMMA or methamphetamine. And while 
the cause of each death is still under investigation, police say the 
presence of PMMA is a common link in each death.

"Some (ingested) capsules, some powder, some were tablets, but the 
common thread through all of it was PMMA," said Det. Doug Hudacin, of 
the Calgary police drug unit. "The fact that (ecstasy) is being mixed 
with something else is not a new trend."

And health officials noted that the chemical's delayed side-effects 
may be behind the high number of fatalities.

"What happens is that the symptoms may be milder in nature when 
somebody takes one or two pills, and the danger that occurs is that 
people take more pills to achieve the desired effect," Yarema said. 
"This can result in fatal consequences and this may explain the 
number of fatalities."

Calgary police are consulting with other law enforcement agencies and 
poison centres across Canada and in the U.S., but the source of the 
drug is unknown.

Police said the majority of the ecstasy found in Calgary originates 
from B.C.'s lower mainland and that the average price fetched by the 
drug has dropped in the past decade.

"It's down to about three to five dollars now," said Staff Sgt. Mike 
Bossley. "The danger is that it's not very expensive. The less 
something costs to purchase, the broader base it will command for customers.

"This is a prime example of the gamble people take when they use 
illegal drugs," Bossley said. "You never know what is in your drug: 
yesterday it was MDMA, today it's PMMA, and tomorrow it could be 
something else. There is no safe street drug and no safe dose of a 
street drug."

The deaths go back to November when a 16-year-old overdosed. Four 
more deaths followed in December, with the victims aged 18, 25, 29 and 31.
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