DEATH MAY NOT BE DRUG-RELATED

The father of a 22-year-old man who collapsed and died at a Sydney
nightclub, in what police suspect might have been a reaction to a deadly
new party drug, said yesterday his son had long suffered from a serious
heart abnormality.

Mr Michael Overton said that until the results of toxicology tests were
known, he did not believe his son, Michael junior, had taken the drug -
blue nitro - or that his son was a user of illegal drugs.

The 2am death at the Sublime nightclub in Pitt Street, Sydney, on Saturday,
and the collapse of another person at another venue, led police to warn
dance party goers not to consume the blue liquid drug being sold illegally
as a form of ecstasy.

Police said the blue nitro, also known as GBL, was a depressant, primarily
used in the building and painting industry as a solvent.

However, Mr Overton said he did not believe his son, a fourth-year chef at
the Sheraton on the Park, was a drug overdose victim. "All I can say is
that he had a heart complaint and our family is devastated.

"Michael was a good kid who enjoyed life."