Pubdate: Sat, 14 May 2005
Source: Nanaimo News Bulletin (CN BC)
Copyright: 2005, BC Newspaper Group
Contact:  http://www.nanaimobulletin.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/948
Author: Beth Blackburn, RCMP
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy)

ECSTASY OFTEN CONTAINS OTHER ILLICIT DRUGS

For the past six years the RCMP Drug Awareness Service and the University 
of B.C. have been conducting an analysis of tablets seized by police that 
were being sold to youth as ecstasy.

I'm sure that you will find the results alarming.

Youth for some reason believe ecstasy is safe and non-addictive. This is 
simply not true.

What is more alarming is that the ecstasy being sold more than 45 per cent 
of the time contains methamphetamine. This is based on the 2003 analysis. 
This trend is increasing year by year.

Some of the other substance found in the tablets are heroin, caffeine, 
ephedrine, ketamine, cocaine and PCP.

Of the 456 samples tested in 2003 more than 400 contained stimulants, 101 
contained MDMA, 79 MDA, 85 methamphetamine and interestingly 19 samples 
contained cocaine.

Using one or more drug at a time is called "poly-drug" use and this is an 
emerging alarming trend.

Along with the these poly-drug cocktails, ecstasy users are often consuming 
large amounts of vitamins, herbal supplements and stimulants such as 
caffeine and recently popular energy drinks such as Red Bull, often 
exceeding the recommended dosages, believing this is safe.

The drugs alone are not safe but the risk increases when the user is 
ingesting pills or tablets that are a drug cocktail usually without their 
knowledge because these tablets are produced in clandestine labs that are 
not regulated and not being produced within any standards of safety.

So if you trust your drug dealer with your health and safety then go ahead 
and make that choice, but they are driven by one thing and that is money - 
not your safety or health.

When things go sideways it will not be your drug dealer standing there 
helping you. Be informed and make good choices.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom