DESPITE ECSTASY DEATHS, RAVE DRUG STILL IN DEMAND

Contrary to popular belief among youth, Ecstasy isn't like marijuana.

Ecstasy kills. There's no doubt about that, according to deputy regional
coroner Liana Wright.

In 1998 alone, there were at least three deaths in the Greater Vancouver
area directly linked to the drug, known also by its street name as E or the
love drug.

In May, 1998, a 24-year-old man from Port Coquitlam died after ingesting
Ecstasy, Wright said.

The man had gone out for the evening at a nightclub in Vancouver when he
took the drug orally. Over the course of the evening he also did a line of
cocaine, but Wright said the level of cocaine in his system wasn't lethal.
He was found dead at his home early the next morning.

In December 1998, a 21-year-old Vancouver man died of an intercranial
hemorrhage due to Ecstasy intoxication, Wright said. He'd been taken to
hospital by his friends after taking the drug and then collapsing.

In June, 1998, a 43-year-old man committed suicide by intentionally taking
a large amount of the drug in a rooming house in downtown Vancouver.

In March of 1999, a young Abbotsford man died after a New Westminster rave.
Traces of Ecstasy were found in his system.

Despite the risk of death or serious injury, youth attending the all-night
parties known as raves continue to buy and use the drug.

On Saturday night at a rave at Riverside Banquet Hall in Richmond, a bag
filled with 50 pills of the synthetic drug known as MDA was confiscated by
security.

Demand for the drug has led smugglers to continue to try to import the
drug, which sells for between $10 and $25 per pill.

In Richmond provincial court, an Israeli man is on trial for trying to
import tens of thousands of pills of Ecstasy.

According to court testimony, Rafael Tevet claimed to customs officials
that the pills they found inside one of his suitcases didn't belong to him.

A customs inspector testified this week that he became suspicious when he
noticed that one of Tevet's suitcases appeared to have a false bottom. The
depth of the inner compartment didn't match the overall depth of the suitcase.

It was also heavier than it should have been despite having been emptied out.

After pulling back an inner lining, a clear plastic bottom was discovered.
Under it were several packages containing the illegal drug, most popular
among rave-goers because of its long-term effects.

During their flight from Madrid through Amsterdam to Vancouver, Tevet was
apparently seated next to Yousi Sader, a 25-year-old father of a newborn
who also held an Israeli passport. Sader has already pleaded guilty to
importing a controlled substance and will be sentenced in April.

The defense is expected to call only one witness, Tevet, when the trial
resumes on Feb. 28 at 9:30 a.m.