DESIGNER DRUG ECSTACY STARTING TO POP UP IN TIMMINS

The designer drug ecstacy has been in Timmins on occasions, but on a lower
scale than other cities throughout the province.

We do get an influx (of ecstacy) to some degree, but then it disappears,
Const. Joseph Romualdi, investigator with the Timmins Police Service drug
enforcement unit, said Tuesday.

He said there havent been any local seizures of the drug, which is also
known on the street as E, X, Adam, Love Doves and MDA.

Ecstacy is a club drug that alters a number of brain chemicals including
serotonin, which affects many functions, and increases heart rate and blood
pressure.

Its a party drug it keeps people more alert. It gives them more energy and
keeps them awake, Romualdi said.

Like many other drugs, there are dangers when mixing it or taking it in
extensive amounts.

People are taking too much of it and taking it with other stimulants such
as alcohol, causing heart failure, Romualdi added.

Tuesday, police in Toronto and Montreal announced the biggest seizure of
ecstasy in Canadian history. Canada Customs officials working in Montreals
marine unit and RCMP officers seized 340,000 of the illegal pills, with a
street value estimated at $11 million, the RCMP said.