YOUNG RAVER'S DEATH BLAMED ON ECSTASY DRUG

Woman Was 21: Died From Kidney And Liver Failure

A 21-year-old woman, who left a rave early Sunday morning feeling ill, died
from kidney and liver failure as a result of taking the drug Ecstasy, an
autopsy report shows.

Police say Elizabeth "Beth" Robertson of Etobicoke took the drug while at
Systems Soundbar, a rave club on Peter Street in the downtown bar district,
after arriving at about 12:30 on Sunday morning with a group of friends.

"It's believed she obtained the drug at this club," said Detective Martin
French.

Ms. Robertson left the club with a male friend between 4 and 5 a.m. after
she began to feel ill, police said.

The couple went to a home on Santa Barbara Drive in the Yonge Street and
Finch Avenue area, where Ms. Robertson fell asleep. But at approximately
9:30 a.m., her friend was unable to wake her and called 911.

When paramedics arrived, they found Ms. Robertson's vital signs absent. She
was pronounced dead an hour later in hospital.

Investigators are trying to trace Ms. Robertson's last movements on the
night she attended the rave and are attempting to determine who she acquired
the Ecstasy from.

"We have to make the public aware of the potential lethal side effects of
this drug," said Det. French.

"There's no quality control. Every batch is made differently depending on
what chemical composition is available to the person manufacturing it," he
said.

There is no clear evidence as to what amount of Ecstasy proves fatal, said
Dr. Joyce Bernstein, an epidemiologist with Toronto Public Health.

"With designer drugs, one pill is not necessarily equal to another because
they're manufactured underground," she said.

Ecstasy raises the body temperature, and combined with dancing and
sweltering temperatures on the dance floor, the results can be deadly, Dr.
Bernstein said. "The body overheats and dehydrates and as a result, all of
the body systems become affected."

Ms. Robertson is the 14th person in Ontario to die from Ecstasy since 1998.
Her misfortune comes less than a month after an inquest looked into the
death of Allen Ho.

Mr. Ho, a 20-year-old Ryerson student, collapsed at an illegal all-night
party in a west-end underground garage last October after taking the same
illicit drug.

A coroner's jury offered a list of 27 non-binding recommendations aimed at
preventing future tragedies such as requiring rave organizers to provide
unlimited access to drinking water and to hire private paramedics and
off-duty police officers to patrol the events.

The jury also recommended agencies that print or sell tickets for raves
include more information on the tickets, including a warning that the event
is drug free and the consequences of drug possession.

In May, city council temporarily banned raves on municipal property, a move
many critics felt would drive more raves underground to unsafe, unsupervised
locations.