Pubdate: Sat, 04 Feb 2012
Source: Calgary Herald (CN AB)
Copyright: 2012 Canwest Publishing Inc.
Contact: http://www2.canada.com/calgaryherald/letters.html
Website: http://www.calgaryherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/66
Author: Stephane Massinon
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy)

POLICE REVEAL DRUG LAB PHOTOS TO HIGHLIGHT ECSTASY DANGERS

Filthy conditions, unknown chemicals and a pill press covered in 
ecstasy: this is what a drug lab looks like.

In their latest effort to showcase the dangers associated with street 
drugs, police released photographs on Friday of an ecstasy lab in 
Richmond, B.C., in light of the many deaths in Calgary and B.C. tied 
to ecstasy laced with a toxic chemical.

Seven people in Calgary, and one person in Red Deer, have died from 
taking ecstasy (MDMA) laced with paramethoxymethamphetamine (PMMA).

Two additional cases are still awaiting toxicology results.

There have been five deaths reported in B.C.

The chemical, a cheaper alternative than MDMA, is being cut into 
ecstasy, but is believed to be more toxic.

B.C. RCMP Sgt. Duncan Pound said when officers entered the lab in 
full protective suits in 2008, they found 750,000 pills and enough 
drugs to make 3.3 million tablets.

"These tablets were not Pmma-laced tablets. They were MDMA and other 
chemicals mixed in," Pound said. "There was a variety of different 
things, which goes back to what we've been trying to warn about 
ecstasy. Typically speaking, you'd see 10 to 30 per cent MDMA in an 
ecstasy tablet, so the other 70 to 90 per cent is whatever else the 
folks decide to throw in there."

Pound added that there is a safety concern, of fires or explosions, 
and environmental concerns with the toxic waste produced.

"There's a ratio of one to five. So if they get one kilogram of 
finished product, they'll have five kilograms of toxic waste. In this 
case, the property was about 10 acres and there was an area where 
they were dumping the toxic waste. And these aren't your model 
citizens that are complying with Health Canada regulations for 
disposal," said Pound. "You had a portion where all the vegetation 
was killed off and dead and these toxins going right into the water."

Local police hope the photographs illustrate the point they've made 
for years: it's impossible to tell what ingredients are included in 
street drugs.

"The reason we want to share this with the public is to show the 
quality of the labs that are producing street drugs that people are 
willingly taking," said southern Alberta RCMP spokesman Sgt. Patrick Webb.

People "should be aware that that's where the drugs they are taking 
are being produced, and they wonder why these things become very 
low-quality and dangerous."

Labs like these are rare in Alberta and Webb said he couldn't think 
of a similar bust occurring in the province.

Instead, they are found in B.C., Ontario or the United States, he said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom