Pubdate: Wed, 20 May 1998 Source: Advertiser, The (Australia) Contact: OVERDOSES CAUSED BY THREE DRUGS, POLICE CONFIRM THREE potentially lethal designer drugs are responsible for a spate of Adelaide overdoses which have left two men seriously ill. Police tests yesterday revealed three weekend overdose victims had taken either the notorious "death drug" PMA or Ecstasy produced in local backyard laboratories. And it is believed Fantasy and Ecstasy are to blame for three more overdoses yesterday. Superintendent Denis Edmonds, officer-in-charge of the Drug Task Force, said the re-emergence of PMA was of particular concern. In 1996 and 1997 PMA claimed the lives of six South Australians who believed they were taking Ecstasy. "Yes there is a concern because PMA is usually a by-product of trying to make Ecstasy and I would think that there are not too many drug manufacturers out there who intentionally make PMA," Mr Edmonds said. "They are trying to make Ecstasy and it's not working. It's much more potent than Ecstasy." On Saturday, a man aged in his 20s was rushed by the SA Ambulance Service from a Glenelg apartment to the Flinders Medical Centre after taking PMA. Yesterday he remained in a serious, but stable, condition. On Monday a 26-year-old Parkside man was rushed to the Royal Adelaide Hospital after taking Ecstasy. He, too, remains in a serious condition. On the same day a woman was also treated and released from the RAH after taking Ecstasy. Superintendent Edmonds again warned drug users they could be killed by the designer drugs. Superintendent Edmonds said Drug Task Force officers would now hunt the sources of the drugs used in the unrelated overdoses. - ---