kingpin007
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Injecting ecstasy ups danger
AT a loss . . . Gerry and Neville Bebendorf's daughter Rosie had needle
marks on her arm.
Matthew Fynes-Clinton
May 11, 2009 12:00am
HEALTH experts are alarmed that drug users are injecting ecstasy, with an autopsy revealing the practice may have killed Brisbane woman Rosie Bebendorf.
Queensland Health clinical forensic medicine unit director Bob Hoskins said injecting was "a guaranteed way of maximising the unwanted effects of ecstasy".
That included heart attack, extremely high blood pressure and uncontrollable fitting – all of which could lead to death.
Ms Bebendorf, 28, died at her boyfriend's home about 6.30am on New Year's Day, after consuming an unconfirmed number of pills allegedly bought hours earlier at a Fortitude Valley nightclub.
But in establishing her death from MDMA (ecstasy) toxicity, an autopsy report received by Ms Bebendorf's parents highlights two injection marks on her arm.
"The needle marks on the crook of the right elbow, which were fresh – a few hours old – could be the site where the drug was administered," a government pathologist states.
The findings are especially chilling in that they might explain how even a small quantity of ecstasy pills can be lethal.
While reports suggest Ms Bebendorf took as few as two tablets, most drugs given intravenously have three to five times their oral potency.
"If you inject something into the bloodstream, it will start off being very much more concentrated than it could ever have been if it was taken orally," Dr Hoskins said.
Shooting up ecstasy appears to be rare, with just 1 per cent of users favouring the method, according to the Federal Government's 2008 Ecstasy and Related Drugs Reporting System.
But, in other surveys, up to one in five users have admitted to injecting it at least once.
When swallowed, MDMA is known to gradually raise blood pressure and heart rate.
Pine Rivers Private Hospital alcohol and drug program director John Saunders said this escalation was rapid after intravenous use.
"The heart rate can increase so much that it can't be sustained, and basically just expires," he said. Professor Saunders said injecting MDMA could also create acute anxiety and psychosis, infections and life-threatening clots.
Ms Bebendorf's mother Gerry said the autopsy report had only amplified the tragedy, and mystery, behind her loss.
She believed it was "very unlikely (Rosie) injected herself" with the fatal dose of ecstasy, although she had known for some time that her daughter took speed intravenously.
Since her death, a friend of Rosie had mentioned that dealers would inject it into her.
"She just didn't like needles," Mrs Bebendorf said. "So someone has injected her. Whether it was the dealer, or somebody else, I wouldn't like to speculate."
A Justice Department spokesman said police were finalising their report for the coroner on Ms Bebendorf's death.
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,25457524-5018883,00.html
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