15 YOUTHS OVERDOSE BY TAKING MORPHINE

Fifteen people between the ages of 11 and 15 are being treated in
Saskatchewan hospitals after they overdosed on prescription morphine at a
house party yesterday.

The girls and boys were taken to the Nipawin Hospital in northeastern
Saskatchewan shortly before noon yesterday, said RCMP Corporal Brian Jones.
"Several have since been transferred to other hospitals."

The morphine tablets had been prescribed to the homeowner, whose identity
could not be released because of privacy concerns. Cpl. Jones could not
confirm reports that the drugs belonged to a cancer patient, although he
said the owner is an adult.

"I believe there had been a gathering at that residence the previous night
and earlier that morning," he said, adding that the morphine owner's
children were in the house at the time. He did not know whether they were
among those who overdosed.

"Some of the kids were really sick," Cpl. Jones said. "They were sick
enough that they needed to be taken to hospital, and some had to be
transferred to larger hospitals [in Prince Albert, Sask., and Saskatoon]."

Morphine is derived from the poppy plant and is used as a strong
painkiller, especially in cases of terminal illness, such as cancer and
AIDS. It is also the key ingredient in the street drug heroin.

Symptoms of morphine overdose include severe drowsiness, seizures and loss
of consciousness. It can be fatal.

A nurse at the hospital in Nipawin -- a town of just over 5,000 people
about 150 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon -- would not comment on their
conditions.

Cpl. Jones said he was not certain about the patients' conditions because
they had been sent to different hospitals.