METH-LACED ECSTASY LATEST LETHAL DRUG TO HIT CITY

Winnipeg police have sounded the alarm again about ecstasy use,
announcing yesterday that a 15-year-old boy recently died after
taking a meth-laced capsule of the so-called party drug.

Sgt. Rod Hourd of the force's organized crime unit said it is
believed the illicit drug contributed to or caused the boy's death
about four weeks ago.

"These pills are dangerous and they're now starting to kill people,"
Hourd said yesterday. "This is not a fun party drug for people to
take at a rave."

Hourd said the unidentified boy knew he was taking ecstasy but
didn't know it contained methamphetamine.

Three other teens, aged 15 to 17, have been hospitalized within the
past four weeks.

Drug-makers add meth to make it more addictive.

"The kids don't know (meth) is there. They're expecting one thing
and they end up with another," said Joel Gervais of the Addictions
Foundation of Manitoba. "A lot of these kids showing up in the
emergency rooms are probably both physically and psychologically in trouble."

PARENTS

Police are looking into how the boy obtained the drug. Hourd
wouldn't say how many capsules the boy ingested.

Police are urging people not to consume ecstasy and asking parents
to talk about the dangers of drugs with their children. It's the
second time in four months police have issued such a warning.

In April, city police seized more than $300,000 worth of ecstasy in
a bust with links to organized crime in Western Canada. The warnings
follow more seizures of meth-laced ecstasy, or meth tablets or
capsules passed off as ecstasy.

Police are checking to see whether some pills contain LSD. Traces of
meth are also being found in some cannabis, Gervais said.

Battery acid or other toxic chemicals are used to make meth, cooked
in toilets, bathtubs or makeshift labs.

The mix is extremely hazardous to a person's health and may result
in brain damage or kidney failure.

Since 2000, at least four Manitobans have died hours after taking ecstasy.