LEARN MORE ABOUT THE DRUG ECSTASY

OTTAWA -- Thousands of teenaged students in Ontario have already
experimented with the illegal drug ecstasy, a hallucinogen that produces
feelings of happiness and energy, according to a drug-use study.

Ecstasy and marijuana were the two drugs at the centre of an international
crime-ring bust on Wednesday that resulted in more than 160 arrests. The
organizers of that crime ring were located in Ottawa.

The 2003 study, conducted by the Canadian Centre for Substance Abuse,
concluded that more than 54,000 of the 970,000 grade seven to 12 students
surveyed -- including those at Catholic schools -- have already used the
drug most often associated with the club scene and raves or all-night dance
parties.

The study also found the likelihood of students willing to use the drug
increase significantly with age. The centre states people between the ages
of 18 to 29 were more likely than any other age group to use ecstasy.

Ecstasy, called a designer drug because it is synthetically produced, was
developed by a drug company in 1914 as an appetite suppressant and it
became popular in the 1980s as an illegal recreational-use drug.

The drug has hallucinogenic properties and is a relative of speed
(amphetamine). The Canadian Association for Mental Health (CAMH) says
ecstasy currently has no approved medical use.

The CAMH fact sheet on ecstasy says the drug is usually produced in pill or
capsule form and is ingested orally. With a chemical name of MDMA, the drug
produces feelings of well-being and intimacy -- explaining why it is also
known as the "hug" or "love drug." It also has many dangerous side-effects,
which can last for days or weeks. These effects include: sweating;
increased heart rate; increased body temperature; vomiting; panic; insomnia
and paranoia.

The drug has also been linked to several deaths at raves due to a
combination of very high body temperature and dehydration, which leads to
kidney or cardiovascular failure. Convulsions, and liver damage are also
reported side-effects of ecstasy use.

And while ecstasy on its own is very dangerous, Louis Logue, co-ordinator
of Ottawa police's youth intervention and diversion unit, is quoted as
saying that often pills sold as ecstasy include angel dust, LSD, or PMA,
one of the most toxic and dangerous known hallucinogens.

In fact more than 78 per cent of the ecstasy pills seized and tested by the
RCMP were not ecstasy at all, said Logue.

The RCMP states that most ecstasy that makes its way to Canada is produced
in the Netherlands or Israel, however the organization also says its
creation is increasing in Canada, and a growing "trend of larger, more
sophisticated MDMA and MDA lab operations continues to be observed" within
the country.

The RCMP in a report stated that trafficking of ecstasy ranged from
individuals to organized gangs, including biker gangs, Asian-based gangs --
especially in Ontario and British Columbia -- and Italian gangs.

The drug's growing popularity can be directly shown through the increasing
RCMP seizures of the drug: from 1,000 tablets in 1996 to more than two
million in 2000.