Pubdate: Thu, 08 Mar 2012 Source: Regina Leader-Post (CN SN) Copyright: 2012 The Leader-Post Ltd. Contact: http://www.leaderpost.com/opinion/letters/letters-to-the-editor.html Website: http://www.leaderpost.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/361 Author: Barb Pacholik Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy) TAINTED ECSTASY BLAMED FOR DEATH Fatal for Man in Moose Jaw Tainted ecstasy linked to more than a dozen deaths in B.C. and Alberta has now proven fatal for a Moose Jaw man. It is Saskatchewan's first confirmed case of the deadly drug that's been laced with a highly toxic chemical, prompting a public alert Wednesday by the province's Office of the Chief Coroner and the Moose Jaw Police Service. "You're gambling when you're taking ecstasy," Chief Coroner Kent Stewart said in an interview. "There is no safe dosage even when it isn't tainted with other substances," he said. Moose Jaw police Sgt. Cliff Froehlich said the 46-year-old man was found dead Feb. 4 at a residence in that city. Police are not releasing the name of the man, a labourer originally from Ontario who lived alone. Initially, police knew only that it was a sudden death, with no foul play, and suspected a possible drug overdose. But there was nothing to link the fatality to tainted ecstasy until the results of a toxicology test came back this week. As in the recent spate of deaths in Alberta and B.C., testing in the Moose Jaw case found traces of ecstasy laced with the chemical paramethoxymethamphetamine (PMMA), although methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) - the compound commonly found in ecstasy - was also present. Pmma-tainted ecstasy has been linked since July to 10 deaths in southern Alberta, primarily in Calgary, and five in B.C., with three in the Lower Mainland and two on Vancouver Island. "Ecstasy in itself - or the MDMA that we normally associate with ecstasy - has some dangerous side effects and that can certainly kill you also. This adds to the risk," said Stewart, adding that a user can't tell what chemicals are in an ecstasy pill just by looking at it. PMMA is similar to MDMA but "it's much more toxic,' said Stewart. Unlike the so-called "normal" ecstasy, PMMA takes longer to have an effect. So some drug users may think it's not working, and pop another pill - only to end up overdosing. MDMA and PMMA are stimulants that can increase heart rate and blood pressure, resulting in heart attacks, strokes and other complications. As a result of the deaths elsewhere, RCMP in Saskatchewan issued a warning back in January about the tainted ecstasy in hopes of heading off any problems here. There's no way to know for sure the ecstasy that killed the Moose Jaw man came from the same source as in the B.C. and Alberta deaths. "But I think it's reasonable to suggest that given this particular death associated with these tainted ecstasy drugs, that it has reached Saskatchewan," said Stewart. How many pills the man took is also unclear. Testing can reveal levels but can't show if the drug was in one pill or more. "That's part of the problem is that you never know, even with one pill, what quantity of either drugs you're getting in that pill," Stewart said. "We can only say that there was a lethal amount of this particular drug." Froehlich said investigators in Moose Jaw will try to trace where and how the man acquired the drug. He added that just because the death occurred in Moose Jaw, the public shouldn't think the tainted drug is confined to that city. "We don't know whether this guy picked this up in Moose Jaw, whether he picked it up outside of Moose Jaw, whether he picked it up in Alberta, or where this came from," he added. Froehlich said Moose Jaw police have been hearing a lot more about ecstasy in that city, and in the high schools particularly, in recent years. Because the synthetic drug rose to popularity as part of rave culture, ecstasy has generally been associated with younger users. Froehlich was a bit surprised the drug was found in a person of 46, but he quickly added that drug users come from all age groups and backgrounds. "You're dealing with 14, 15-year-old people that are addicted to crack and meth, and you're dealing with 40 or 50-yearold people or older that are dealing with the same issues." Asked if there are any other deaths in the province in which tainted ecstasy is suspected but not yet confirmed, Stewart noted that in the Moose Jaw case, it wasn't even a concern - until the toxicology results came back. "I would suggest that may be the case in other situations that we see in the future, where we have no information that would indicate that ecstasy is in fact related to the death. And then once the toxicology (results) come back we identify that this was in fact a significant contributing factor." Both men worry that if there's now been one Saskatchewan death linked to the drug, more could follow. Stewart has been in contact with his counterparts in Alberta and B.C. and notes one of the roles of the Coroner's Office is preventing similar deaths. "And that has to do with making people aware of the significant dangers associated with this particular drug," he said. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom