Pubdate: Thu, 08 Mar 2012
Source: Regina Leader-Post (CN SN)
Copyright: 2012 The Leader-Post Ltd.
Contact: http://www.leaderpost.com/opinion/letters/letters-to-the-editor.html
Website: http://www.leaderpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/361
Author: Barb Pacholik
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy)

TAINTED ECSTASY BLAMED FOR DEATH

Fatal for Man in Moose Jaw

Tainted ecstasy linked to more than a dozen deaths in B.C. and 
Alberta has now proven fatal for a Moose Jaw man.

It is Saskatchewan's first confirmed case of the deadly drug that's 
been laced with a highly toxic chemical, prompting a public alert 
Wednesday by the province's Office of the Chief Coroner and the Moose 
Jaw Police Service.

"You're gambling when you're taking ecstasy," Chief Coroner Kent 
Stewart said in an interview.

"There is no safe dosage even when it isn't tainted with other 
substances," he said.

Moose Jaw police Sgt. Cliff Froehlich said the 46-year-old man was 
found dead Feb. 4 at a residence in that city. Police are not 
releasing the name of the man, a labourer originally from Ontario who 
lived alone.

Initially, police knew only that it was a sudden death, with no foul 
play, and suspected a possible drug overdose. But there was nothing 
to link the fatality to tainted ecstasy until the results of a 
toxicology test came back this week. As in the recent spate of deaths 
in Alberta and B.C., testing in the Moose Jaw case found traces of 
ecstasy laced with the chemical paramethoxymethamphetamine (PMMA), 
although methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) - the compound commonly 
found in ecstasy - was also present. Pmma-tainted ecstasy has been 
linked since July to 10 deaths in southern Alberta, primarily in 
Calgary, and five in B.C., with three in the Lower Mainland and two 
on Vancouver Island.

"Ecstasy in itself - or the MDMA that we normally associate with 
ecstasy - has some dangerous side effects and that can certainly kill 
you also. This adds to the risk," said Stewart, adding that a user 
can't tell what chemicals are in an ecstasy pill just by looking at it.

PMMA is similar to MDMA but "it's much more toxic,' said Stewart. 
Unlike the so-called "normal" ecstasy, PMMA takes longer to have an 
effect. So some drug users may think it's not working, and pop 
another pill - only to end up overdosing. MDMA and PMMA are 
stimulants that can increase heart rate and blood pressure, resulting 
in heart attacks, strokes and other complications.

As a result of the deaths elsewhere, RCMP in Saskatchewan issued a 
warning back in January about the tainted ecstasy in hopes of heading 
off any problems here.

There's no way to know for sure the ecstasy that killed the Moose Jaw 
man came from the same source as in the B.C. and Alberta deaths. "But 
I think it's reasonable to suggest that given this particular death 
associated with these tainted ecstasy drugs, that it has reached 
Saskatchewan," said Stewart. How many pills the man took is also 
unclear. Testing can reveal levels but can't show if the drug was in 
one pill or more.

"That's part of the problem is that you never know, even with one 
pill, what quantity of either drugs you're getting in that pill," 
Stewart said. "We can only say that there was a lethal amount of this 
particular drug."

Froehlich said investigators in Moose Jaw will try to trace where and 
how the man acquired the drug. He added that just because the death 
occurred in Moose Jaw, the public shouldn't think the tainted drug is 
confined to that city.

"We don't know whether this guy picked this up in Moose Jaw, whether 
he picked it up outside of Moose Jaw, whether he picked it up in 
Alberta, or where this came from," he added.

Froehlich said Moose Jaw police have been hearing a lot more about 
ecstasy in that city, and in the high schools particularly, in recent years.

Because the synthetic drug rose to popularity as part of rave 
culture, ecstasy has generally been associated with younger users.

Froehlich was a bit surprised the drug was found in a person of 46, 
but he quickly added that drug users come from all age groups and 
backgrounds. "You're dealing with 14, 15-year-old people that are 
addicted to crack and meth, and you're dealing with 40 or 50-yearold 
people or older that are dealing with the same issues."

Asked if there are any other deaths in the province in which tainted 
ecstasy is suspected but not yet confirmed, Stewart noted that in the 
Moose Jaw case, it wasn't even a concern - until the toxicology 
results came back. "I would suggest that may be the case in other 
situations that we see in the future, where we have no information 
that would indicate that ecstasy is in fact related to the death. And 
then once the toxicology (results) come back we identify that this 
was in fact a significant contributing factor."

Both men worry that if there's now been one Saskatchewan death linked 
to the drug, more could follow.

Stewart has been in contact with his counterparts in Alberta and B.C. 
and notes one of the roles of the Coroner's Office is preventing 
similar deaths. "And that has to do with making people aware of the 
significant dangers associated with this particular drug," he said.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom