Pubdate: Fri, 02 Feb 2001 Source: Daily Camera (CO) Copyright: 2001 The Daily Camera. Contact: Open Forum, Daily Camera, P.O. Box 591, Boulder, CO 80306 Fax: 303-449-9358 Feedback: http://www.bouldernews.com/opinion/index.html Website: http://www.bouldernews.com/ Author: Pam Regensberg DETECTIVES BEGIN TESTS IN SUPERIOR ECSTASY CASE Authorities will be testing urine and blood samples taken from Brittney Chambers to find out what was in the 16-year-old's system when she took a designer drug that caused her to lapse into a coma. Detectives hope the tests, to be conducted at a private laboratory, will shed some light on why the teenager's body reacted the way it did. Chambers, and several of her friends, swallowed cloverleaf-shaped pills Saturday during Chambers' birthday party at her mother's Superior home. Chambers at first took half of a tablet, her 17-year-old brother, Preston Chambers, told reporters Wednesday. About 1 1/2 hours went by, then she took the other half, he said. Sometime after 1 a.m., Chambers was in the bathroom vomiting. None of her friends experienced a similar reaction. The drugs got to the party through one of Chambers' friends, who bought or obtained the pills from a student at Monarch High, authorities said. School authorities asked reporters to stay away from the Monarch High campus, where Chambers attended school before moving to Arizona with her father. Investigators are still looking into whether the pill was tainted or if Chambers took too much of the designer drug that is said to heighten the senses and promote euphoria. Those who have used the drug say they feel love and empathy for others and have intense urges to hug and kiss people. Detectives said a test on the pills will be conducted by the Drug Enforcement Agency. Investigators are also looking into whether Chambers had any other drugs in her system, including anti-depressants. Sheriff's Detective Mike Linden said Chambers has once taken anti-depressants, but it is unknown when and what brand. "It doesn't change things," Linden said. "It still doesn't make distribution of an illegal drug legal." Hospital workers told deputies that Chambers had an amphetamine in her system, but no alcohol. Pharmacologist Jerry Frankenheim, with the National Institute on Drug Abuse in Maryland, said mixing ecstasy and certain anti-depressants can be deadly. Frankenheim said he knows that some people have safely taken Prozac before ingesting ecstasy, known to scientists as methylenedioxymethamphetamine or MDMA. "In animal experiments (the combination) was shown to prevent brain damage," he said. "But people distort those findings to suit their purpose. It has not been established in people at all. It could actually work against them because of the dosage and timing." Meanwhile, the girl's family and closest friends are holding out hope that she will respond to their words and affection. About a dozen of Chambers' loved ones spent their fifth day in the Intensive Care Unit waiting room at Boulder Community Hospital on Thursday. They are reluctant to talk to news media, but one family member said Chambers' mother is not going to leave her daughter's side. - --- MAP posted-by: Terry Liittschwager