HUDSON TEEN DIES FROM DRUG OVERDOSE

HUDSON -- A 17-year-old boy died Sunday from an overdose of the drug
Ecstasy, authorities say.

Samuel Buell, 1709 Laurel Ave., Hudson, attended homecoming activities
Friday evening at Hill-Murray High School in St. Paul, where he was a
senior. After returning home Saturday morning, he became severely ill. St.
Croix Emergency Medical Services personnel were called to his house at 6:41
a.m.

Buell was taken to Regions Hospital in St. Paul and put on life support
systems, but he was nonresponsive and was pronounced dead Sunday, hospital
and Hill-Murray officials said.

According to a family statement, which also was given to students, staff
and parents at the school, "Sam's illness and death were caused by
complications related to the drug Ecstasy," an illegal amphetamine.

The Hudson Police Department is investigating what happened on the night of
Buell's death and whether any charges should be filed.

Buell was to be buried today.

Hill-Murray and Hudson High School, where Buell's twin brother, Zach, is
enrolled, both offered grief counseling.

Faculty were called to a meeting at Hudson High School Monday afternoon to
discuss the boy's death.

St. Croix County investigator Dave Hake said 41 methamphetamine cases were
prosecuted last year in St. Croix County, but about 150 cases were
investigated.

"The availability of Ecstasy has greatly increased the last few years," he
said. "It has been made very available to the youth in our area."

Hake said he thinks St. Croix County's proximity to Twin Cities is a major
reason for the increase.

Earlier this month a 24-year-old Black River Falls woman, Tara Tidgwell,
died of an apparent overdose, and Jackson County officials said that,
according to a preliminary report, she had taken Ecstasy while at a rave, a
party characterized by bright colors and hours of frantic dancing.

Leader-Telegram reporter Jessica Bock contributed to this report. Winter is
a free-lance writer based in Hudson.