AFTER ECSTASY, MORE BAD DRUGS

Ecstasy thrills, they say - but ecstasy also kills. The risk is
great, which is why law enforcement agencies on both sides of the
border have made a concerted effort to cut the supply and stem the
flow of the drug to gullible and naive users.

It might appear the war is being won, although there will be many
more battles on other fronts as long as there is a demand for these
illegal, recreational drugs.

First, ecstasy. The people who take it - generally they are 30 years
or younger, and eager to have a good time at a party - are hoping to
buy a thrill that will last two to six hours.

A pill that costs as little as $10 promises a sense of euphoria and
reduced anxiety. It has become a popular choice among recreational
drug users, but there it carries a nasty potential side effect: Death.

People who suffer an adverse reaction to ecstasy can have psychotic
breakdowns, hallucinations and agitation as well as seizures, kidney
failure and, in rare cases, heart attacks.

Ecstasy is a synthetic drug, manufactured in illicit labs using a
variety of ingredients. There are no controls on what those
ingredients will be, or how potent they will be.

The drug is supposed to contain 3,4Methylenedioxymethamphetamine -
MDMA for short - but the pills are often laced with methamphetamine,
ketamine and cocaine, which are all dangerous as well.

The people who choose to use ecstasy are relying on faith that the
person who concocted the pill was doing it with their safety in mind.
That is a lot of faith to ascribe to the criminal world.

"You don't know what's in it and you don't know what the dosages
are," Dr. Perry Kendall, B.C.'s chief medical health officer, has
said. "Depending on the dose, your size, how long you've been taking
it - you can have a variety of adverse effects."

Kendall says the B.C. Coroners Service reported 10 to 24
ecstasy-related deaths per year from 2007 to 2010. In the past week,
the drug left a 17-year-old Abbotsford girl dead and a 24-year-old
woman from Abbotsford in hospital in critical condition. At least
three recent deaths in Calgary have been linked to the drug.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration reports that about four
million ecstasy tablets were seized along the Canadian border in
2010, up from two million in 2006. But the prevalence of ecstasy
might be changing because of a tougher laws.

Until 2011, it had been easier to get ephedrine and pseudoephedrine,
which are needed to make ecstasy, in Canada than in the U.S.
Importing the chemicals was regulated, but possession was not
illegal. Now, the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act has been
amended to make it a crime to possess the tools of synthetic drug production.

That has led to the development and sale of new drugs that have
similar euphoric stimulants but don't have the same complex chemical
makeup as ecstasy.

Wherever there is demand for illegal drugs, there will be people
trying to make a fortune by filling that demand by risking the lives
of willing users. As one drug falls out of favour, or is suppressed
by tougher laws, other drugs will pop up to take their place.

It's important for our lawmakers to stay ahead of the curve with
legislation, and also to support our law enforcement officers who are
trying to keep illegal drug use in check.

It's important as well to keep getting the message out to potential
users: There is nothing cool about being a corpse.