Pubdate: Sat, 25 Feb 2012
Source: Calgary Herald (CN AB)
Copyright: 2012 Canwest Publishing Inc.
Contact: http://www2.canada.com/calgaryherald/letters.html
Website: http://www.calgaryherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/66
Authors: Clara Ho and Meghan Potkins
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy)

DYING TO GET HIGH

Ecstasy Users Risk Their Health and Lives Chasing a Lucid Euphoria

Partiers and addicts eat, snort and "parachute" ecstasy.

They take it for the cheap, lucid highs and they take it to escape 
their own particular reality.

But no matter how it's consumed, there is no way of knowing you're 
getting pure, unadulterated ecstasy, a chemical known as MDMA, or a 
crank product cut with an anonymous cocktail of illicit drugs and 
fillers - or poison.

Either way, ecstasy users are consuming chemicals that distort and 
even threaten the human body's normal functions.

The results have been especially deadly for some who took the risk 
with a tainted version of ecstasy hitting the streets.

While chasing a high that users liken to a lucid and energized 
sensation of euphoria, eight Calgarians have died after consuming a 
supply of the drug believed to have been cut with a toxic compound 
never before seen by police in Canada.

Since July, ecstasy laced with paramethoxymethamphetamine (PMMA), has 
been connected to 10 Alberta deaths and five more in B.C.

Last month, authorities sounded the alarm after six overdose deaths 
and dozens of hospitalizations occurred in under a month, 
overwhelming police and health resources.

A public awareness campaign mounted by Calgary Police and Alberta 
Health Services was launched to get out the message that no amount of 
the drug is safe.

But as the death toll mounts, officials still wonder if the message 
is reaching users.

In pill form, ecstasy still appears very much like the candy-coloured 
fuel favoured by 1990s ravers. While rave culture has declined, the 
popularity of the drug persists - and inventive users have come up 
with more ways to achieve the high they crave.

Inhaled through the nose, it delivers a rapid rush that burns the 
throat. Users also break open vitamin tablets or prescription 
medications, replacing the contents with the powder before swallowing.

And "parachuting" involves swallowing the powder wrapped in a single 
ply of toilet paper dropped into the back of the throat with water, 
fast-tracking absorption of the drug into the bloodstream.

"You get a mouthful of water, pop or beer and you don't taste it. You 
swallow and wait until it hits you and then you know whether you got 
a strong hit or not," said one long-term user, who identified himself 
only as Chris.

"That's where the inexperience comes in. Someone eats one (pill) and 
they get impatient. 'I want to get high, I want to get high, I'm not 
feeling it.' And so they take another, and before you know it, you're screwed."

Chris, a 13-year ecstasy user from Edmonton who has served time in 
Calgary for trafficking drugs, said he'll continue using the drug by 
taking the same precautions he always has.

The 29-year-old said he has a high tolerance and is able to take 
upwards of five pills a night and has consumed as many as 10.

He normally tests a new batch by popping just one tablet first to see 
what happens, he added.

He purchases his drugs from a trusted source that he believes 
originates in B.C.

"You're going to get that 'up feeling', but then there's beyond that 
'up feeling' that is too much. Where in your mind, you're going, 'Oh 
crap, this is too much' and I've been there before."

Despite the dangers, Chris said he'll continue to take the drug for 
the pleasure of the high that it gives him - a euphoric feeling, more 
clearheaded than an alcohol buzz, and cheaper.

"I'm not a drinker, I go out and socially drink (but) I'd rather go 
out, eat a pill of 'E'. It's much cheaper and it's what I like."

Calgary users note that a gram of MDMA powder costs around $20, 
providing a high that sustains them for hours. But for users who 
become obsessed with the drug, cost is no obstacle.

Former addict Alex questions whether the public warnings by officials 
will have any impact, noting the only thing that helped him give up 
ecstasy was a wakeup call from someone who'd had a harrowing 
experience with drugs.

"The only people who reached me were those who had been there. 
Someone who was an addict who was in recovery, who had felt the pain 
I'd felt, who knew why I had used drugs, who knew all the tricks that 
I would use to try and justify my use and get out of getting sober," 
said the 19-year-old, who didn't want his last name published.

It's been more than three years since Alex last touched ecstasy, 
graduating from the Alberta Adolescent Recovery Centre's treatment 
program in the summer of 2008. But memories - both good and bad - of 
using the drug still remain with him.

Born without wrists or thumbs and shorter arms - a condition known as 
bilateral radial aplasia - Alex was the subject of bullying as a 
child. Eventually, he found a sense of belonging when he started 
swimming competitively at 11, working his way up as an alternate for 
the Canadian Paralympic team.

"Life was going fairly well, but I could never escape that 
loneliness, that feeling of being different," he said.

At 15, he started drinking and realized it helped wash away feelings 
of depression. Drinking led to smoking pot, and pot led to mushrooms. 
Seeking a new high, Alex went to a house party and scored his first 
hit of ecstasy, a red tablet stamped with an image of a woman.

The high was an accumulation of life's pleasures.

"It's the feeling you get after you eat a big meal, the feeling you 
get when you fall in love, hearing your favourite band, everything 
you love all at once."

Soon, Alex was taking ecstasy nearly every day. Feeding his addiction 
became a priority, and friends, family, school and swimming fell by 
the wayside.

When it became increasingly difficult to achieve the same high, he 
ramped up his dosage levels to "insane amounts" and started mixing 
ecstasy with alcohol. Blacking out became a regular event.

After getting kicked out of his home, and spending nights 
couch-surfing and sleeping on the street, his family took him to the 
recovery centre, where he cleaned up his act.

Fellow recovery centre graduate Matt Jones has also kicked his habit, 
but remembers watching his life fall apart after getting into ecstasy 
and other drugs, dropping out of school and getting in trouble with the law.

His mother, then a public health nurse, said she was heartbroken to 
see her son spiralling out of control.

"I used to go to schools and teach drug prevention," said his mother, 
who did not want her name used. "Behind my back, here was my own kid 
doing drugs. I felt like a hypocrite.

"We were terrified to pick up the phone. You were so scared someone 
was going to tell you your son was dead."

Like Alex, Jones abused ecstasy to fill a void in his life. He was 
new to Calgary and had difficulty making friends and fitting in. But 
once he started taking drugs, invitations to the "cool parties" 
started flooding in, the 18-year-old said.

"I created my identity on drugs. I did more drugs than pretty much 
anyone else in my high school. I felt that's who I was and people 
knew me because of that."

Jones used to be a regular ecstasy user, buying three tablets each 
time, ingesting the first then crushing and snorting the remaining 
two. He also mixed ecstasy with other drugs for a more potent effect.

Now two years clean, back in school and mending his relationship with 
his family, Jones said he will never touch the drug again.

If he were still using, he said, he'd probably stay away from ecstasy 
to avoid PMMAlaced batches. But for addicts, it can be tough to say 
no to a craving, even if that means risking your life.

"(When I took ecstasy), I didn't know what was in it," he said. "I 
knew basically it was MDMA and every chemical you were going to find 
under the kitchen sink with the cleaning supplies. I knew that and I 
didn't care."

Responding to recent public safety campaign efforts, Alex said he 
doesn't think the solution is focusing on PMMA as a problem.

"If you want to nip the problem in the bud, get kids sober. It might 
be PMMA right now, but it could be some other weird thing tomorrow."

Dean Vause, executive director of the Alberta Adolescent Recovery 
Centre, agrees. He commends the efforts of police, government and 
health officials for highlighting the dangers of ecstasy and PMMA.

"But let's not minimize the marijuana addiction, the crack addiction, 
the meth addiction," he said.

While Chris says that he plans to continue using the drug, he admits 
recent deaths have scared some of his friends.

"People are worried and I think it's going to stray a lot of people 
away from it for a while, but it's not going to go away," he said. 
"It's never going to go away."
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom