ECSTASY-ALCOHOL MIX A NEW THREAT

Police are starting to see a disturbing new trend emerging among
young drug users at raves who are now mixing a potentially deadly
combination of ecstasy with alcohol.

RCMP Sgt. Scott Rintoul, a drug awareness coordinator, says the trend
was first spotted locally this summer at a rave party in Agassiz.

"We probably interacted with well over a 100 people who had taken
ecstasy and the majority had all been drinking as well, in fact some
were very drunk and that's a trend you typically never saw before,"
Rintoul said Monday.

Rintoul notes that even the website www.erowid.org, which bills
itself as a harm reduction website, advises against mixing ecstasy
with alcohol.

"A lot of the advocates say don't do that - it's dangerous, yet we
are now seeing a lot of people consuming alcohol and using ecstasy
which is a really, really dangerous cocktail," he said.

Rintoul notes that alcohol is a depressant which depresses the heart
rate, something that would place the user at even greater risk should
he overdose.

"The consequences of that is very real and very disturbing," he said.

A spokesman with Fraser Health said the region's emergency wards
don't track overdoses based on type of substance abuse.

Of all the substance-abuse cases involving young people who end up in
the ER, most involve alcohol.

Meanwhile, police are seeing a rise in level of crystal meth mixed
with ecstasy to meet consumer demand for a quicker high.