DRUGS PART OF FATAL RAVE MIX

Ecstasy Was Only One Factor In Deaths, Coroner Says

Of the five deaths that B.C.'s chief coroner said this week have been
linked to the party drug ecstasy, only one death, a suicide by overdose was
conclusively caused by the substance.

According to coroners' reports provided to The Vancouver Sun, one of the
deaths involved alcohol, heroin, steroids and ecstasy, one might have been
suicide by drowning and another was ruled an overdose of MDA, a drug that
is not the same as ecstasy but is in the same family of drugs. A fifth
death was ruled a result of MDA and cocaine overdose.

B.C. chief coroner Terry Smith agreed Tuesday with The Sun's findings, but
added they do not diminish the risk associated with taking ecstasy.

"I think the short answer is 'Yeah, you're probably right,' but then you
get into this whole thing about to what extent did it contribute to the
deaths," said Smith.

Smith raised the alarm about ecstasy, also called MDMA or
methylenedioxymethamphetamine, on Monday, after two young people died on
the weekend after attending a rave in Vancouver at which they are believed
to have ingested ecstasy.

"Anyone who may have purchased this drug in the last several days would be
best to destroy the drug or preferably turn the drug in for appropriate
destruction by the proper authorities," Smith said in a press release.

"The British Columbia coroners' service is aware of five other deaths in
the last three years involving ecstasy," the release said.

Smith said an autopsy will be performed this week on the 17-year-old male
and 24-year-old female who died on the weekend.

Initial bloodwork on one of the victims indicated the presence of
amphetamines, but a full toxicology report to determine what other
substances the victims ingested will likely take another two weeks, Smith said.

Many pills sold as ecstasy contain other drugs, police and harm reduction
advocates say. It is not yet clear whether the latest deaths were caused
by ecstasy or by other substances.

According to the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse, ecstasy can cause
psychological problems including confusion, depression, sleep problems,
cravings and paranoia. It can also cause muscle tension, involuntary
teeth-clenching, an increase in heart rate and blood pressure and liver damage.

Some research also links ecstasy use to long-term memory loss. the
institute says.

In B.C.'s only death conclusively ruled the result of an ecstasy overdose,
a 43-year-old man was found dead in June 1998 in a rooming house in Vancouver.

The man had been in legal trouble, had lost his job, had split with his
common-law partner, and had previously attempted to overdose on Aspirin,
the coroner's report states. Investigators also found a suicide note and
30 ecstasy tablets.

In another of the deaths, in February 1999, a 20-year-old man was found
drowned in Victoria. According to the coroner's report the man had been at
a private party and had been seen ingesting "a large amount" of drugs. A
toxicology report showed he had ingested ecstasy. He also had alcohol in
his system, though the report notes that might have been a result of
decomposition.

"Investigation revealed he had been in difficulty with the authorities, had
recently broken up with a girlfriend and that his roommate had moved out a
few days previous. There was a longstanding history of family problems,"
the report said.

The man's death was not ruled suicide, accidental, homicide or natural.
Rather, it was left as "undetermined."

In a third death, in May 1998, a coroner ruled the cause of death was acute
ecstasy ingestion. The report further notes, however, that the victim had
been using steroids, had reportedly consumed a large amount of beer and had
snorted a line of heroin the morning he died.

In another death in May 2000 a 16-year-old female died at B.C. Children's
Hospital after taking cocaine and MDA, the drug related to ecstasy.

"Since 1998, she was admitted to hospital on several occasions due to acute
alcohol intoxication," the report notes. "Since Dec. 1999, she became
increasingly rebellious in behaviour and was reported to use illicit drugs
and ecstasy occasionally whenever she was in likeminded company. On the
evening of 13 May, 2000, she attended a rave with friends."

The next day, she went to a house party where she used cocaine, then
suffered a seizure. She died the following day.

In another death, in December 1998, a 21-year-old man died of a brain
hemorrhage ruled by the coroner to be caused by ecstasy intoxication. But
the report, signed by coroner Jeannine M. Robinson, says the substance in
the victim's system was MDA, not ecstasy. The coroner said, however, that
MDA is ecstasy.(Chief coroner Smith said that MDA is not the same thing as
ecstasy.)