A city teen who was taken to hospital with an apparent ecstasy drug overdose over the weekend died early Wednesday, say police.
Sgt. Mike Bossley with the Calgary Police Service’s drug unit said the problem with ecstasy is that its contents are unknown and there are no controls with regard to drug production.
“Ecstasy is commonly known as MDMA. However, the drug MDMA is quite frequently not the only drug in ecstasy,” he said, adding tablets can be cut with a variety of drugs, including methamphetamine, cocaine or ketamine, which all have adverse effects on the human body.
“It’s made by some guy in a basement somewhere or a garage, and he mixes it up. Every tablet can have different amounts of MDMA or methamphetamine in them, so you don’t know what you’re taking and that makes it very dangerous.”
He noted that ecstasy is also relatively accessible. It used to be known as a “rave drug” and remains a popular choice with youths using illicit drugs, he said.