Pubdate: Wed, 31 Oct 2001
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2001 The Vancouver Sun
Contact:  http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Chris Nuttall-Smith

DRUGS PART OF FATAL RAVE MIX

Ecstasy Was Only One Factor In Deaths, Coroner Says

Of the five deaths that B.C.'s chief coroner said this week have been 
linked to the party drug ecstasy, only one death, a suicide by overdose was 
conclusively caused by the substance.

According to coroners' reports provided to The Vancouver Sun, one of the 
deaths involved alcohol, heroin, steroids and ecstasy, one might have been 
suicide by drowning and another was ruled an overdose of MDA, a drug that 
is not the same as ecstasy but is in the same family of drugs.  A fifth 
death was ruled a result of MDA and cocaine overdose.

B.C. chief coroner Terry Smith agreed Tuesday with The Sun's findings, but 
added they do not diminish the risk associated with taking ecstasy.

"I think the short answer is 'Yeah, you're probably right,' but then you 
get into this whole thing about to what extent did it contribute to the 
deaths," said Smith.

Smith raised the alarm about ecstasy, also called MDMA or 
methylenedioxymethamphetamine, on Monday, after two young people died on 
the weekend after attending a rave in Vancouver at which they are believed 
to have ingested ecstasy.

"Anyone who may have purchased this drug in the last several days would be 
best to destroy the drug or preferably turn the drug in for appropriate 
destruction by the proper authorities," Smith said in a press release.

"The British Columbia coroners' service is aware of five other deaths in 
the last three years involving ecstasy," the release said.

Smith said an autopsy will be performed this week on the 17-year-old male 
and 24-year-old female who died on the weekend.

Initial bloodwork on one of the victims indicated the presence of 
amphetamines, but a full toxicology report to determine what other 
substances the victims ingested will likely take another two weeks, Smith said.

Many pills sold as ecstasy contain other drugs, police and harm reduction 
advocates say.  It is not yet clear whether the latest deaths were caused 
by ecstasy or by other substances.

According to the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse, ecstasy can cause 
psychological problems including confusion, depression, sleep problems, 
cravings and paranoia. It can also cause muscle tension, involuntary 
teeth-clenching, an increase in heart rate and blood pressure and liver damage.

Some research also links ecstasy use to long-term memory loss. the 
institute says.

In B.C.'s only death conclusively ruled the result of an ecstasy overdose, 
a 43-year-old man was found dead in June 1998 in a rooming house in Vancouver.

The man had been in legal trouble, had lost his job, had split with his 
common-law partner, and had previously attempted to overdose on Aspirin, 
the coroner's report states.  Investigators also found a suicide note and 
30 ecstasy tablets.

In another of the deaths, in February 1999, a 20-year-old man was found 
drowned in Victoria.  According to the coroner's report the man had been at 
a private party and had been seen ingesting "a large amount" of drugs.  A 
toxicology report showed he had ingested ecstasy. He also had alcohol in 
his system, though the report notes that might have been a result of 
decomposition.

"Investigation revealed he had been in difficulty with the authorities, had 
recently broken up with a girlfriend and that his roommate had moved out a 
few days previous.  There was a longstanding history of family problems," 
the report said.

The man's death was not ruled suicide, accidental, homicide or natural. 
Rather, it was left as "undetermined."

In a third death, in May 1998, a coroner ruled the cause of death was acute 
ecstasy ingestion.  The report further notes, however, that the victim had 
been using steroids, had reportedly consumed a large amount of beer and had 
snorted a line of heroin the morning he died.

In another death in May 2000 a 16-year-old female died at B.C. Children's 
Hospital after taking cocaine and MDA, the drug related to ecstasy.

"Since 1998, she was admitted to hospital on several occasions due to acute 
alcohol intoxication," the report notes.  "Since Dec. 1999, she became 
increasingly rebellious in behaviour and was reported to use illicit drugs 
and ecstasy occasionally whenever she was in likeminded company.  On the 
evening of 13 May, 2000, she attended a rave with friends."

The next day, she went to a house party where she used cocaine, then 
suffered a seizure.  She died the following day.

In another death, in December 1998, a 21-year-old man died of a brain 
hemorrhage ruled by the coroner to be caused by ecstasy intoxication. But 
the report, signed by coroner Jeannine M. Robinson, says the substance in 
the victim's system was MDA, not ecstasy.  The coroner said, however, that 
MDA is ecstasy.(Chief coroner Smith said that MDA is not the same thing as 
ecstasy.)
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