Ecstasy Suspected in Rave Party Death

Trilobite

Trilobite

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From the Edmonton Journal, Page A1, October 13, 2009 (Edmonton, Alberta)

19-year-old man collapses at West Edmonton Mall event

Ecstasy is believed to be behind the death of a 19-year-old rave patron who collapsed early Monday during an all-night party at West Edmonton Mall.

The male victim, a partier at the Frost 2009 rave at the Edmonton Event Centre, was taken to hospital by paramedics about 4 a.m. He died a couple of hours later, police information officer Dean Parthenis said.

The man is suspected to have taken ecstasy. Three friends of the victim — two men and a woman, all in their 20s — were also treated for suspected ecstasy ingestion and later released.

Kalum Giroux, who was at the party, said there were nearly 3,000 people at the rave. “It was one big party. Everyone was dancing and partying to the world’s No. 1 DJs.”

Giroux said he didn’t know there had been a death until hours after the rave ended.

While he doesn’t touch ecstasy “because I know what it can do to you,” the drug is typically part of the rave scene, Giroux said.

“I know it keeps you up all night and it makes you hyper,” he said.

Frost 2009 was a licensed, all-night party that started at 9 p.m. Sunday and went until 6 a.m. Monday.

It featured more than a dozen DJs and required all patrons to wear white clothing as part of the “frost” theme. No one under 18 was admitted to the event, which was promoted by Boodang Music Canada out of Calgary.

Peter Boodang declined to comment Monday, saying his company was only paid as a street promoter and had nothing to do with organizing the event.

While the man’s death is not considered criminal at this point, investigators are looking for the person or persons who supplied the drug, Parthenis said.

Earlier this year, West Edmonton Mall suspended the popular Rock ’n’ Ride Dance Party event at Galaxyland after the death of a 14-yearold girl. Cassandra Williams and a friend overdosed after taking six pills of ecstasy each during an April 25 event. The friend survived, but Williams died the next day after being taken off life support.

A 16-year-old was later charged in the case.

Two girls died

In March, Leah House, 14, and Trinity Bird, 15, died from ecstasy overdoses on the Paul Band reserve. They were among a group of nine girls who took the drug while at a round dance on the reserve west of Edmonton.

Police charged a 16-year-old boy in connection with their deaths.

An overdose of ecstasy can kill in at least three ways. Because the amphetamine-type drugs stimulate the heart, they can increase blood pressure until a blood vessel bursts. This usually occurs in the brain, where bleeding can be fatal.

The drug can also cause hyperthermia, or an increase in body temperature, to the point of death. Another danger is fluid retention, which causes the brain to swell and leads to brain damage.

Ecstasy pills are usually homemade and have all sorts of drugs in them, with some ecstasy tablets containing no ecstasy at all. Some batches are stronger than others and each individual reacts differently. A dose that would be harmless to one user can kill the next, experts say.
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This is the latest in a chain of irresponsible journalism focusing on "ecstasy" deaths. It drives me bonkers. Clearly, it wasn't MDMA alone (or at all) that caused these deaths, there must have been other factors involved... but you'd never know that from reading any of these articles. Just that it was an "ecstasy overdose," whatever the hell that means, since apparently hyponaetremia is a type of "overdose." (yeah, overdose on WATER!)

With the other deaths, toxicology screens were apparently done, there has been no report of what was actually found in their bodies. Nor has there been any report of what the pills looked like, what other drugs/medication these people were taking, or what predisposing factors they might have had. I don't expect reporting on this death to be any different. It's incredibly uniformed writing, and does nothing except perpetuate the hysteria over ecstasy. Apparently the author has never seen the words "harm" and "reduction" next to each other.

No one is going to stop taking "ecstasy" because of this story, because they know it's not a normal occurrence. Information such as what was in the pills, what they looked like, drug interactions, dosages, and medical history would actually be useful, and result in users modifying their behaviour to avoid unnecessary risks.

Ecstasy is believed to be behind the death of a 19-year-old rave patron who collapsed early Monday during an all-night party at West Edmonton Mall.
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No, some sort of pills are believed to be responsible for this death of this raver.

Ecstasy pills are usually homemade and have all sorts of drugs in them, with some ecstasy tablets containing no ecstasy at all.
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Like I just said! Then why do you keep calling it "ecstasy"?! Wow, doublethink. And, "homemade"? What the heck does that mean? I bring a batch of cookies to work, I say they're "homemade", as in "I made them at home". I buy a box of cookies from a store that manufactures thousands of cookies, I don't think anyone would say that they're homemade. Kinda implies that all ecstasy users have advanced chemistry knowledge. :p

A dose that would be harmless to one user can kill the next, experts say.
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I think normally something that would kill one person would at least have a seriously adverse effect on anyone else, but what do I know.


Anyway, sorry for ranting... this kind of stuff just really bugs me.
 
So let's say somebody did actually die as a result of taking ecstasy. It's not justification to outlaw raves or stop taking pure forms of the drug! Nobody even considers outlawing marathons when somebody dies... for a 2nd time!


Marathon runner collapses, dies
Man, 23, is 2nd participant to die in festival's history
By Hanah Cho [email protected]

October 11, 2009

A 23-year-old male runner collapsed Saturday morning at the Baltimore Running Festival and later died, the second death during the marathon's nine-year history, event organizers and officials said.

Lee Corrigan, president of Corrigan Sports Enterprises, the event organizer, said the runner fell at the 25th-mile marker, near the route's last medical aid station. Workers immediately came to the assistance of the man, who was taken to Union Memorial Hospital. His name was not released.

Debra Schindler, a hospital spokeswoman, said the runner collapsed about 11:20 a.m. and was pronounced dead at the hospital at 1:11 p.m. after doctors unsuccessfully tried to revive him. Schindler said the runner never regained consciousness.

The state's medical examiner office was expected today to perform an autopsy to determine a cause of death.

Corrigan said the event had seven medical stations, which were staffed with 250 health care professionals, including doctors and registered nurses.

"We are heartbroken about it and it puts a sad note on an otherwise great day for Baltimore," he said. "Our hearts go out to him and his family."

The last time there was a death at the race was in 2001, during the first year of the marathon. A 29-year-old female runner died after having a brain aneurysm, Corrigan said.

Laura M. Clancy, who lived in Greenwich, Conn., an account executive with a public relations firm in New York City, fell ill around the 22nd mile of the course and was taken to Union Memorial. She died a day later.

link
 
"Another danger is fluid retention, which causes the brain to swell and leads to brain damage"

is he referring to dehydration here? can someone help me please


"The drug can also cause hyperthermia, or an increase in body temperature, to the point of death"

how do u precent this?
 
fluid retention is the opposite of dehydration. I think they messed up here, because MDMA definitely does not cause fluid retention. He might have stupidly been talking about drinking too much water, which will lead to brain swelling ---> brain damage. But that is completely unrelated to the actual drug, more related to people obsessing about drinking enough water.

As for the hyperthermia question, hyperthermia would be counted as over 100 degrees F. Once you get over 104 F, you start to slowly damage your organs.
 
Sturnam said:
fluid retention is the opposite of dehydration. I think they messed up here, because MDMA definitely does not cause fluid retention. He might have stupidly been talking about drinking too much water, which will lead to brain swelling ---> brain damage. But that is completely unrelated to the actual drug, more related to people obsessing about drinking enough water.

As for the hyperthermia question, hyperthermia would be counted as over 100 degrees F. Once you get over 104 F, you start to slowly damage your organs.
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well said, thanks alot i appreciate it big time:)
 
Sturnam said:
Once you get over 104 F, you start to slowly damage your organs.
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Really? I had fevers of 105 F multiple times while a child, and no organ damage occurred, to my knowledge.
I have read other figures cited as "the point when you begin to suffer physical (brain/organ) damage". They are typically higher than 104 F - most say 106 or 107. I researched this figure frantically when my son had a 104.5 degree fever, but his doctor told me not to worry at all unless it got to 106.
Can you cite a source for your figure of 104 F?
 
Sturnam said:
fluid retention is the opposite of dehydration. I think they messed up here, because MDMA definitely does not cause fluid retention. He might have stupidly been talking about drinking too much water, which will lead to brain swelling ---> brain damage. But that is completely unrelated to the actual drug, more related to people obsessing about drinking enough water.

As for the hyperthermia question, hyperthermia would be counted as over 100 degrees F. Once you get over 104 F, you start to slowly damage your organs.
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The condition that causes this brain swelling is hyponatremia. Hyponatremia occurs when the concentration of sodium in the blood is lower than what it should be, and to put it simply, this condition causes your cells (including brain cells) to absorb extra water. That's why the brain swells.

Ecstasy does, in fact, add to this because it raises your body's levels of antidiuretic hormone. So when someone is rolling AND drinking way more water than they should, this hormone prevents them from peeing it back out like they would normally.

Then, to make matters worse, at a rave, there's a good chance someone is dancing and sweating a lot. There's more sodium gone, and although drinking water replaces the water you're sweating out, it doesn't replace the lost sodium. So, all added together, that's where this risk comes from.

But, even though the risk is there, it is still a really uncommon occurrence and also an easily preventable one by drinking only reasonable amounts of water, no more than 2 bottles per hour if sweating heavily. It would also help to eat some fruit or a salty food before/during as well.
 
scureto1 said:
The condition that causes this brain swelling is hyponatremia. Hyponatremia occurs when the concentration of sodium in the blood is lower than what it should be, and to put it simply, this condition causes your cells (including brain cells) to absorb extra water. That's why the brain swells.

Ecstasy does, in fact, add to this because it raises your body's levels of antidiuretic hormone. So when someone is rolling AND drinking way more water than they should, this hormone prevents them from peeing it back out like they would normally.

Then, to make matters worse, at a rave, there's a good chance someone is dancing and sweating a lot. There's more sodium gone, and although drinking water replaces the water you're sweating out, it doesn't replace the lost sodium. So, all added together, that's where this risk comes from.

But, even though the risk is there, it is still a really uncommon occurrence and also an easily preventable one by drinking only reasonable amounts of water, no more than 2 bottles per hour if sweating heavily. It would also help to eat some fruit or a salty food before/during as well.
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I know it's a little off topic, but would say adding a gram or so of table salt to a gallon of water help combat this rather well? I've always did this and limited myself to 3 bottles of water at raves because of hyponatremia
 
fatstep said:
I know it's a little off topic, but would say adding a gram or so of table salt to a gallon of water help combat this rather well? I've always did this and limited myself to 3 bottles of water at raves because of hyponatremia
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thats what i want to know as well very good question.
 
scureto1 said:
The condition that causes this brain swelling is hyponatremia. Hyponatremia occurs when the concentration of sodium in the blood is lower than what it should be, and to put it simply, this condition causes your cells (including brain cells) to absorb extra water. That's why the brain swells.

Ecstasy does, in fact, add to this because it raises your body's levels of antidiuretic hormone. So when someone is rolling AND drinking way more water than they should, this hormone prevents them from peeing it back out like they would normally.

Then, to make matters worse, at a rave, there's a good chance someone is dancing and sweating a lot. There's more sodium gone, and although drinking water replaces the water you're sweating out, it doesn't replace the lost sodium. So, all added together, that's where this risk comes from.

But, even though the risk is there, it is still a really uncommon occurrence and also an easily preventable one by drinking only reasonable amounts of water, no more than 2 bottles per hour if sweating heavily. It would also help to eat some fruit or a salty food before/during as well.
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thanks a ton this was damn informative. i learned alot. I was recently at a swingers club i popped an E pill around 11pm went on the dance floor, light dancing till like 4 am. i drank like 4 bottles of water, i didn't sweat too much. even though dancing ended at 4am i remained walking around inside the club till like 10 am( this time barely any water, walking pretty fast, i ate nothing no salty stuff till about 11 am- i had orange juice with breakfast ( why do people suggest orange juice? cuz it's salty?). Is this dangerous or ok?, I had only one E pill for the second time in my life.

Also my face during the evening at around 2 am was white- i don't know if this was cuz it was so clear or was it the palness? my lips seemed blue- i don't remember the candy or gum i had.

Now it's wednesday, this happened saturday night till sunday 10am. Yesterday parts of the left side of my head were twitching- upper left face and also felt like my head was pulsating and sorta inflating, am i ok?
 
Yeah adding a small amount (very, very small) would work for keeping your sodium up. Another way to manage it is to make every other or every 3rd drink you drink a sports drink (gatorade, powerade). A trick athletes use is to mix half sports drink / half water and drink that. That way they get a good balance of the electrolytes from the sports drink without getting as much sugar, which can dehydrate you, defeating the purpose of the drink in the first place.
 
wreckless2009 said:
thanks a ton this was damn informative. i learned alot. I was recently at a swingers club i popped an E pill around 11pm went on the dance floor, light dancing till like 4 am. i drank like 4 bottles of water, i didn't sweat too much. even though dancing ended at 4am i remained walking around inside the club till like 10 am( this time barely any water, walking pretty fast, i ate nothing no salty stuff till about 11 am- i had orange juice with breakfast ( why do people suggest orange juice? cuz it's salty?). Is this dangerous or ok?, I had only one E pill for the second time in my life.

Also my face during the evening at around 2 am was white- i don't know if this was cuz it was so clear or was it the palness? my lips seemed blue- i don't remember the candy or gum i had.

Now it's wednesday, this happened saturday night till sunday 10am. Yesterday parts of the left side of my head were twitching- upper left face and also felt like my head was pulsating and sorta inflating, am i ok?
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One way mdma can harm your brain is by oxidation (perfectly normal process, but mdma accelerates it a lot), orange juice and a lot of other fruits, are antioxidants. So it slows or prevents this.

The other symptoms I've never experienced or read anything about. I've heard people complain of all kinds of weird feelings the day or few days after rolling, but honestly I don't have any info about the ones you listed :(. I'd wait and see, and if they get worse, or don't go away after a few days, then its time to worry and maybe see a doc. But I'd say they're most likely going to go away.
 
wreckless2009 said:
what do u mean by oxidation? what is oxidation not having salt in your system?
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ever heard of free radicals? They cause damage in your body. They damage stuff inside. Antioxidants do the opposite, they protect you from the free radicals by binding to the free radicals, neutralizing them. I think free radicals are made by ways of oxidation (a chemical process) and they are incomplete chemical structures therefore they bind(attach) to stuff in your body and damage it. Some vitamins are antioxidants, as well as other stuff. Can't remember, a simple google search would help u know exactly what things act as antioxidants.

Oxidation has nothing to do with water, really. Maybe a little on the chemical level but it is not having too much water in your body.

If u keep practicing harm reduction with E u can minimize any harm u get from the pills.

Smoking cigs does A LOT MORE damage by way of free radicals than an occasional E pill ever could.

Also free radicals are part of the aging process, lots of things cause them whether drug or non drug related. It's just a part of life.
 
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Yeah, sorry if I made that confusing. Oxidation and the water situation are totally unrelated. I only mentioned the orange juice and antioxidant thing because you asked about why people always say you should drink orange juice after rolling. It's a good idea for that reason, but it doesn't have anything to do with the brain-swelling water effect.
 
Update

From the Edmonton Journal, Page B5, October 15, 2009

First-time ecstasy use proved fatal for raver

Calgary teen was spending weekend with girlfriend, pals

Zachary Lamb tried the drug ecstasy for the first time at a West Edmonton Mall rave hours before his death, his best friend said Wednesday.

The 19-year-old Calgarian drove to Edmonton for Thanksgiving weekend with his girlfriend and a couple of friends, including his best friend Danny Yanko, to attend the allnight Frost dance party at the Edmonton Event Centre on Oct. 11.

“This was his first time going to an event like this, an all-night one,” said Yanko, who goes to similar shows regularly.

They paid someone at the party $40 for what Yanko said was pure ecstasy, five clear capsules filled with the white powder MDMA.

They bought the drug on the dance floor, amid thumping music, flashing lights and hundreds of shifting bodies.

Lamb initially took one capsule, then a second a little later, as the friends watched the light show from the venue’s balcony area.

“He was smiling ear to ear. He was bouncing to the beat of the music,” said Yanko, who said he took one capsule and felt fine.

But as the night wore on, Lamb started to sweat and shake.

At about 4 a.m., Yanko led Lamb toward the washroom to get some water. On the way they met two security guards. They took one look at Lamb and said he had to leave.

“The bouncer grabbed him, he stepped back and that was when the situation escalated,” Yanko said.

Two paramedics who were monitoring the event met with security on the top level of the club. Soon, police and more paramedics arrived. “Four people were pinning Zac to the ground by his arms and legs, telling him to calm down,” Yanko said. This seemed to agitate his friend further.

They administered saline to hydrate him and after what felt to Yanko like half-an-hour, the paramedics walked them down the stairs and out to the ambulance. “I don’t think they should have let him walk out by himself,” Yanko said.

Lamb was driven to the Royal Alexandra Hospital with his girlfriend, while Yanko and another friend took a cab to the hospital.

They met a doctor who told them Lamb’s heart wasn’t beating properly. He died soon afterward. “He was a really healthy guy. He used to be kind of the jock in high school, not so much the cocky kid. But he was always playing sports,” said Yanko.

Lamb worked as a senior server at the Dalhousie Earls in Calgary.

“Zac’s been my best friend since Grade 1,” Yanko said. “He was really selfless, he was kind of a goof.”

When Yanko got a job at Earls, he said Lamb helped instil a work ethic in him that had been absent since high school.

While some people might blame the organizers or security for allowing ecstasy to slip past the front door, it’s practically impossible to control, Yanko said.

“You’ll never be able to get rid of that. Drugs are small,” he said. “I’ve used the drug more than a couple times, but I’ll never touch it again.”
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This gives a little more info, but still no toxicology report.

Why didn't they ask Yanko how he felt, rather that just "fine". Had he taken MDMA before? How did what he felt this time compare?

Also, do the math; they bought five capsules; Lamb took two, and Yanko took one, which means there should be two left over. Test them and tell us what was in it!

At least this gives enough information for someone reading to learn from: if it's white powder in a capsule it doesn't mean it's MDMA, and for god's sake, don't buy pills at parties! Of course MDMA can't be ruled out entirely, he could have had some preexisting heart condition, or on other meds.
 
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