Police warn of bad ecstasy pills on the market

KELOWNA — RCMP say several Kelowna teens are recovering after taking what they believed to be ecstasy and became violently ill Thursday.

Police got reports that three Kelowna teens, aged 15, 16 and 18, took ecstasy and all three became ill. They bought the pills somewhere in downtown Kelowna. They suffered stabbing abdominal pains, chronic vomiting and itching. All three are recovering, but police believe others had similar experiences.

RCMP Const. Kris Clark says there's no way to identify a bad batch of drugs.

"You really never know exactly what you're getting," he says, due to varying toxicity and potency.

"We're certainly aware of the situation. If there's something out there we're gonig to be seeking it out on the streets," he says. That includes the downtown area but also dealing through dial-a-dope operations.

Ecstasy is a synthetic drug that is made in clandestine labs that have no quality controls. Various toxic chemicals are used in its production and each batch can vary in chemical composition, toxicity and potency. You can never really know exactly what is in street drugs, and something that is being sold under one name could be something else entirely.