Six ecstasy deaths linked to bad chemical

British Columbia’s ecstasy may be deadlier than ever, B.C.’S top health official said on Thursday.

Provincial health official Dr. Perry Kendall said at least six recent ecstasy-related deaths in B.C. and Alberta are linked to a deadly chemical compound that most likely originates from the Lower Mainland.

Kendall said B.C. health officials, the B.C. Coroner Service and cross-border policing agencies are investigating the common killer thread in the deaths — para-methoxymethamphetamine (PMMA) — a substance for which drug toxicologists previously did not test.

PMMA is a relatively new chemical compound that can be five times more potent than MDMA, which is more commonly found in ecstasy.

It drives up the body’s temperature to potentially deadly levels and has been linked to a higher incidence of seizures, irregular heartbeat and even hypothermia.

“We now have an understanding that there is potentially PMMA found in some of the samples being analyzed in Calgary and in B.C.,” Kendall said.

Kendall believes there are indications more recent local deaths are linked to PMMA, although toxicology tests on B.C.’S recent overdose cases are not yet completed.

Kendall said the province’s coroner’s office will look back at 16 ecstasyrelated deaths during 2011 “to see whether this is a historical trend or if this is something new to us,” he said.

There were 20 ecstasy-related deaths in B.C. in 2010 and 21 overdoses in 2009.

Since late November, four people in the Lower Mainland have died after taking the illicit drug.

A 24-year-old Abbotsford woman, who was in critical condition after taking ecstasy on New Year’s Day, is now improving in hospital, said Const. Ian Macdonald of Abbotsford police.