Pubdate: Wed, 01 Feb 2012
Source: Tri-City News (Port Coquitlam, CN BC)
Copyright: 2012 Tri-City News
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/3X3xlf9Y
Website: http://www.tricitynews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1239
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy)

THIS IS NO PARTY

Young people are playing Russian Roulette if they take ecstasy. But 
how many of them understand the risks of the game.

The feel-good drug popularized by the rave set 20 years ago has 
become more dangerous with the passage of time and young people don't 
know what they're getting when they ingest these drugs.

In recent months, 18 people have died from taking the popular party 
drug in B.C. and Alberta and five had the lethal additive 
Paramethoxymethamphetamine (PMMA) in their system. Likely these 
people had no idea what they were ingesting.

The fact is, these cooked up chemicals are bad enough on their own 
but when PMMA is added the results can be lethal depending on the 
physiology of the individual. Some can take these drugs and survive 
while others simply die.

Experts in the field say those who made the drug don't like losing 
customers and will alter the next batch. But that won't make ecstasy 
any less harmful.

It has always been laced with other drugs such as cocaine, and taking 
it is a gamble. Unfortunately, ecstasy is often sold in pretty 
colours and with cartoonish graphics, making it look like a harmless 
alternative to alcohol, marijuana or other social drugs. It's also 
cheaper than many of these other options.

So what can be done?

Police are working across jurisdictions to share information and have 
dismantled more than 30 drug labs in the last year. But the ground 
war against drugs is not enough and other adults in youth's lives 
must get the word out, too, that pure, safe ecstasy is a drug that 
simply does not exist.

Parents, teachers, school counsellors and first-responders must 
provide clear-eyed, nonjudgmental up-to-date information about this 
drug. Some adults may fear that simply bringing up the issue will 
make some kids curious enough to try the drug.

A few may be tempted. But it's best to be open with all youth because 
the more knowledge that is out there the better.

This is one roulette game nobody wants to lose.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom