ECSTASY'S DEATH TOLL 'SET TO GO ON RISING'

Experts Say Overheating Is The Lethal Factor In Drug Tragedies

Deaths from the drug ecstasy are at a record high, with the rate of people
dying after taking it almost trebling so far this year.

An average of eight people have been killed by the drug annually since it
first started being used 'recreationally' in the UK in the late Eighties.
Around 90 people have died in all. But this year has seen at least 11
deaths and experts fear as many as 25 deaths could be recorded by the end
of 2001.

Last week two young men died after taking ecstasy at a rave in London.
Stephen Brett, 19, and Bret Gilkes, 20, both took at least one pill with a
five-pronged crown stamped on it on Saturday night. They later collapsed
and were rushed to hospital. By Tuesday both were dead. A third man remains
critically ill in hospital.

In May two female teenage students died after taking so-called
'super-strength' ecstasy pills. The pictures of the bloated body of Lorna
Spinks, 19, shocked the nation. Subsequent analysis by police showed that
both women had taken pills from a batch that was coloured lime-green and
stamped with a euro symbol. They contained 129mg of MDMA, the active
ecstasy ingredient, nearly 50mg more than is normally found in a single pill.

Police initially said that they feared the pills that killed Brett and
Gilkes last week contained strychnine, the rat poison, or had been part of
a 'rogue' batch.

But on Friday police said that analysis of the pills revealed normal levels
of MDMA and were not contaminated. The most likely cause of death was
heatstroke.

Det Supt Adrian Maybanks, of Scotland Yard's Serious Crime Group, said
preliminary tests showed Brett, from Surrey, died from liver and kidney
failure.

Dr John Ramsey, head of the toxicology unit at St George's Hospital medical
school in London, has been analysing drugs found in clubs and pubs in
British cities for three years. 'Most deaths are caused by MDMA. Tablets
contaminated with something toxic are extremely rare,' he said.

Though police in Surrey recently warned of 'polos' - ecstasy tablets laced
with heroin - Ramsay said he had never come across any such mix. 'We do
find ephedrine and ketamine and other drugs sold as ecstasy but not usually
mixed with it. They are not generally life-threatening.'

Experts say that the majority of deaths are caused by the conditions in
which ecstasy is taken rather than the drug itself. MDMA simultaneously
raises the body temperature while inhibiting the body's natural mechanisms
for regulating its heat.

'Once the body temperature reaches 40C (104F) everything falls apart. A
crowded, badly ventilated club is exactly the worst place you could
possibly imagine for taking ecstasy,' one expert said. 'People want to
blame contamination, but that's a comforting myth.'

The rave at which Brett and Gilkes died was in a nightclub under the arches
of London Bridge. It was a very hot night and some reports suggested the
ambient temperature inside the club had reached 40C. Seven people were
rushed to hospital as dozens collapsed. Police are investigating
ventilation systems.

Harry Shapiro, of the charity Drugscope, said the increase in deaths might
be linked to a lack of drugs education.

'Many of the young people now taking ecstasy may not have been exposed to
the same sort of harm reduction advice prevalent a few years ago,' he said.
'They are not following the basic rules that first-generation clubbers grew
up with.'

There is growing pressure for better medical provision in clubs as well as
for some kind of facility allowing users to check the strength of the pills
they intend to to take. Police sources said last week that they feared
such a move would legitimise the use of the drug. They urged all club
owners to take extra safety measures such as providing free drinking water
and avoiding overcrowding.

Ecstasy has only been linked to the deaths of 90 people; experts say that
many more will have been killed in car accidents and similar incidents in
which ecstasy has played a part. They point out that 75 young people die
from glue sniffing each year and receive far less publicity.