DRUG THE KILLER

Teen's Death

Toxicology test results have confirmed Becky Ducharme died from an ecstasy
overdose.

The 16-year-old Winnipegger -- who has become the unofficial poster child
in the war against the dangerous designer drug -- was found dead Sept. 23,
2000, in a Wellington Avenue apartment.

But confirmation of the cause of death earlier this week provided little
comfort for Becky's grandfather, Joe Ducharme.

"It still won't bring her back," the 62-year-old told The Sun yesterday.

Ducharme received a 12-page report in the mail Monday from the Chief
Medical Examiner's Office.

The confidential report revealed that Becky's blood contained a high
concentration of ecstasy -- a stimulant with hallucinogenic properties --
as well as the presence of painkillers codeine and acetaminophen, and THC,
the active component of cannabis products.

The ecstasy concentration found in the Gordon Bell student's blood was
seven times over the lower limit associated with adverse effects.

"That's a pretty high concentration for a stimulant," said Dr. Dan Sitar,
head of the University of Manitoba's pharmacology department. People near
Becky the night before she died said the teen -- who was 5-foot-2 and 114
pounds -- ingested a drug cocktail that included a hit of ecstasy.

But Sitar said that's difficult to confirm.

"Because it's not a standardized product, you have no way of knowing how
many so-called hits this person took," he added.

Becky's legal guardians, Ducharme and Carrie Boynowski, keep the teen's
memory alive in their Mynarski neighbourhood home. Her bedroom has been
left relatively untouched, including a closet full of clothes and a book
case topped with stuffed animals.

On Becky's bed is a single red rose.

The grief-stricken couple has replayed the events leading to that fateful
autumn night countless times in their minds.

"It's so hard to figure out what we could have done to prevent this,"
Boynowski said. "She was good in school. She went to church. She was just a
happy-go-lucky kid."

The couple is also left to wonder why Becky was seemingly deserted by the
friends she was partying with to die alone -- especially since the
apartment block is about two blocks from Health Sciences Centre.

"Why didn't they do something?" Boynowski asked. "Why didn't they phone us
that night?"