DID BAD DRUGS KILL 2 TEENS?

Local News - Police are quietly probing the suspicious deaths of two
Niagara teenagers, whose friends say may have fallen victim to a bad batch
of drugs.

Niagara Regional Police Chief Wendy Southall confirmed Thursday police are
investigating the deaths, which occurred in separate incidents during the
past two months.

While one girl lived in Niagara Falls and the other in Fort Erie, police
are reportedly looking for links between the cases, such as common friends
or acquaintances the girls may have had, and whether the deaths are the
result of ingesting tainted or laced ecstasy tablets.

"We had a discussion with respect to those issues this morning, an
operational update, and obviously there is an investigation going on, but I
am not in a position right now to discuss the matter until the
investigation is complete," Southall told Osprey News Network.

When asked if police are worried that there may be a supply of tainted
drugs circulating in Niagara, Southall said: "We are waiting for results of
both of those (cases), and I do want to be extremely cautious with respect
to the investigation on what we're revealing at this time."

Lack of official information about the nature and cause of the deaths has
fuelled speculation among friends, who have been left searching for answers.

A friend of the Niagara Falls teen said she believes her friend's death was
the result of taking tainted drugs, rather than an overdose.

"(She) was responsible. She knew her limit," the girl said.

According to the friend, the victim had been using ecstasy as a
recreational drug for some time.

"It's what all of us who knew (the victim) thought immediately -- that she
had taken some bad stuff," the friend said.

Many teens she knows use ecstasy, at least occasionally, and she said
buying the drug is easier than one might think.

"It's almost as easy to get as marijuana."

She suspects one particular type of ecstasy tablet, known as "Blue Angel,"
is the variety her friend was most recently using.

She said she was surprised when news of her friend's death went unreported
by the media, adding she thinks the public should be warned someone might
be dealing bad drugs.

"I know my friend would want us to talk about this so that it doesn't
happen to someone else. We want whoever is selling these drugs off the street."

The 18-year-old Fort Erie victim went out with friends on a Friday night
when she suddenly collapsed and died. A postmortem was to be conducted, but
no official cause of death has yet been announced.

According to a friend of the Fort Erie teen, who did not want to be
identified, the girl had friends in Niagara Falls that could have put her
in the same circles as the Niagara Falls victim.

Ecstasy -- or methylenedioxymethamphetamine -- is an illegal, synthetic
drug, often associated with the teenage party and dancing scene.

The pills come in a variety of colours stamped with different shapes or
symbols, and often look like candies or vitamins.

Unknown to the user, the pills frequently contain varying levels of other
drugs or chemicals.

Drug dealers have even been known to lace ecstasy tablets with harder
drugs, such as speed or cocaine, in an attempt to addict the user.

Even experienced ecstasy users can't tell the difference between clean and
laced tablets until it's too late.