COPS HUNT DEALERS IN TEEN OVERDOSES

Ecstasy Probably Laced With Crystal Meth, Police Say; Kids Not
Helping Investigation

Saanich police are on the hunt for two people who sold or gave double
doses of ecstasy to a group of young teenagers, four of whom ended up
in the emergency room on Tuesday night.

The teens, aged 13 and 14, overdosed on what they thought was
ecstasy, but police believe the drugs were laced with other addictive
street drugs such as crystal meth.

"We want to catch these guys," said Saanich police Sgt. John Price.
"It concerns the welfare of our kids."

One of the officers who assisted the teens "couldn't believe" they
came out of the incident relatively unscathed, said Price. "There are
documented cases of deaths as a result of ecstasy use, or what people
think is ecstasy," said Price. "And one of these teens was exhibiting
classic symptoms of ecstasy and methamphetamine. He was hot to the
touch. That's when these guys burn up from inside, lose
consciousness, develop kidney failure, then cardiac arrest and they're done."

According to Greater Victoria School District superintendent John
Gaiptman, the teens, who attend Colquitz Junior Secondary and
Spectrum Community School, are good kids.

"Thank God, it looks like everybody's going to be OK," said Gaiptman.
"But just as easily, you could be phoning me up and asking me what
we're going to do about the four students who lost their lives.

"A safe street drug doesn't exist," he added.

According to one of the teens, a 14-year-old girl, a group of young
people bought the ecstasy, then took the pills in Cuthbert Holmes
Park, near Tillicum Mall.

The first overdoses were reported at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, by an adult
who phoned 911 to say two teens were wandering around in a dazed
state near the mall. Paramedics who arrived at the scene couldn't
find the teens and called police for help. Officers found them in the
park behind the Silver City movie theatres. The teens, who told
police they had taken between two and nine double-dose ecstasy
tablets, were rushed to Victoria General Hospital.

At 6:18 p.m., paramedics called police again, after receiving another
emergency call about a 13-year-old boy overdosing in the mall.

"The boy was unable to talk without clenching his teeth," said Price.
"His pupils were dilated to very near wide open. His speech was
rapid. His heart rate was elevated and he was very hot to the touch."

The boy told police he consumed what he thought was pure ecstasy. He
was taken to hospital by ambulance.

Meanwhile, the 14-year-old girl had made her own way to the hospital.

The teens are not co-operating with police, said Price. He's not sure
whether the hospital tested the teens to see what level and what
kinds of drugs were in their systems.

Ecstasy is a mood-altering, hallucinogenic designer drug that used to
make the rounds at raves but is now widely available. The scientific
name of the "love drug" or "hug drug" is MDMA, or
methylenedioxymethamphetamine.

But often, capsules sold as ecstasy contain methamphetamine, crystal
meth, or speed, which is very addictive.

"They put addictive substances in another narcotic to increase their
client base," said Price. "Dealers don't care about their products or
the people they sell them to."

In 2005, Mercedes-Rae Clarke, 13, died in Victoria General Hospital
from what could have been an overdose of crystal meth after she and
two friends bought and ingested what they thought was ecstasy.