Calgary police have confirmed that the death of 23-year old Cody Gorlick was caused by an overdose of ecstasy tainted with a dangerous additive. Gorlick, a student at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) died at the SAIT residence on January 21. He is the the most recent known fatality in the Calgary area involving ecstasy laced with para-methoxymethamphetamine (PMMA).
A powerful stimulant drug, PMMA has been linked to pharmacologist Alexander Shulgin, who also helped popularize MDMA ("ecstasy") along with numerous other psychoactive drugs. Although Shulgin initially described PMMA as having no psychoactive effects, it has since become popular as a street drug in its own right and has been implicated in numerous overdose deaths in recent years. While information on PMMA's toxicity and pharmacological properties is still limited, symptoms of PMMA overdose can include hypothermia, hallucinations, and psychological effects similar to MDMA As a result, drug distributors have been using PMMA as an ecstasy additive to increase its potency. PMMA-related deaths have been reported in British Columbia, Alberta, the Netherlands, Iceland, and Israel.
While ecstasy use has traditionally been associated with younger people taking it during all-night raves, its popularity has broadened in recent years and many older adults have been taking it as well.
Cody Gorlick's death brings the number of PMMA deaths in Calgary up to seven so far and provincial officials are warning that "there is no quick fix" to the PMMA epidemic. Calgary police have suggested that tainted ecstasy may be involved in a recent "black weekend" that left one 35-year old man dead and four others hospitalized. While PMMA has been linked to ecstasy in powdered form, pills or capsules containing ecstasy may also be tainted. Local health authorities have stepped up warnings concerning the danger involving ecstasy use in any form. Police superintendent Kevan Stuart has stated that, "Let's not sugar-coat this. It's very simple: taking ecstasy is very risky. You're playing Russian roulette".
Police have yet to identify the source of the tainted ecstasy which is little comfort to Cody Gorlick's mother, Deborah. In a recent statement, she said that "Now we know it was poison. I hope the people who made it are scared. They've got to catch these people".
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