Pubdate: Sat, 04 Feb 2012
Source: Calgary Sun, The (CN AB)
Copyright: 2012 The Calgary Sun
Contact: http://www.calgarysun.com/letter-to-editor
Website: http://www.calgarysun.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/67
Author: Nadia Moharib, Calgary Sun

NOT E-NOUGH

Seeing ecstasy long lumped into the category of so-called softer drugs
is a hurdle officials have to clear before the message it's dangerous
will be heard.

It has been around for decades and as seen in the recent rash of
deaths in B.C. and Alberta, the additive of PMMA has made it even more
potentially lethal.

There are various batches with everything from matchsticks to battery
acid and antifreeze used in producing it.

"These drugs are all manufactured in different ways," says Dr. Mark
Yarema, an emergency doctor who dealt with a number of the recent cases.

"It's not just a batch gone wrong, this is a deliberate attempt to
make a new drug .. this is something very different."

He says warning people against taking it isn't the sole job of police
or the medical community but comes down to parents teaching kids about
individual responsibilty.

The only safe amount is none, he says.

"These drugs have no therapeutic role in the body," he
says.

"It's appropriate to call it poison."

And clearly it's working -- killing dealers' clients and risking lives
of those who take it.

True story.

Eight people in B.C. take the same amount of ecstasy.

Two end up in medical distress, one dies and another is in intensive
care for a month.

Three got high and came down unscathed.

It's illustrative of the point police try to make when warning people
take a gamble when they take a hit.

"As an intelligent youth, is that a gamble you want to take?" asks
Abbotsford police Const. Ian MacDonald.

Prettily packaged with campy logos -- from Betty Boop to Mickey Mouse --
it may be a seemingly benign drug, however, that's false
advertising.

"It's a tough message to counter," Yarema says of its reputation as a
relatively harmless party pill.

"Basically, you cook your insides, your brain and heart and liver and
kidneys.

"There is no such thing as a good batch."

Even in Calgary courts in recent years, the nefarious nature of 'E'
was highlighted and downplayed by a dealer.

"At that time, I think ecstasy just a small thing. I think ecstasy
just a party drug," the man convicted of trafficking after being found
with 213,000 E tablets told court.

Presiding provincial court Judge John Bascom said he realized "this
drug cannot be described as a hard drug like heroin or crack cocaine,
which are highly addictive," while saying it could not be considered
harmless, either.

"Ecstasy is a drug used by young people who do not appreciate the drug
could cause serious physical damage or death," he said.

Drug unit Staff Sgt. Mike Bossley says police don't know how much
ecstasy is out there and they are limited in preventing people from
indulging.

"I don't want to see any more die from this and even if we arrest a
couple of people -- does that mean it's all gone?" he muses.

"It's counterproductive for the trafficker to kill a customer, isn't
it? It's pretty hard to deny -- to say they didn't know."

As for would-be victims, he says it's time to stay
away.

"The big message is, 'If you are using ecstasy there is a very good
chance you may die, this is really killing people," Bossley says.

"We told you, we have warned you." 
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MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.