Man Dies in Toronto Club After Taking 'Pure Rush' Herbal Ecstasy

[Bajeda]

'Natural ecstasy' linked to man's death at club

July 02, 2008

Jackson Hayes
Staff Reporter

A natural product widely sold as a safe and legal form of the street drug ecstasy is being linked by Toronto police to overdoses which killed a man and left a young woman in critical condition.


Both overdoses occurred downtown at The Guvernment club and involved a product called Pure Rush, police said.


The product is available on the Internet and reportedly can also be bought over the counter in local drug paraphernalia shops.


The male victim, 55, collapsed early Monday shortly after ingesting the product at the Queens Quay E. club, police said. Emergency crews took him to hospital where he was pronounced dead.


Roughly 24 hours later, police said, a young woman took a similar product at the club and also collapsed.


She remains in hospital in critical condition.


Identities of both were withheld pending notification of family.


Toronto police Det. Dave Alexander said the man suffered from high blood pressure and it is unclear if that was a factor in his death.


Police issued a public safety warning yesterday describing the overdoses and citing Pure Rush as a stimulant that can be bought in drug culture shops, and "is believed to create the same effect" as ecstasy.


Police believe the victims took the "natural ecstasy" in pill form.


One website promotes another such product, XTZ, as a "party pill" and six-hour "energy booster," charging $24.21 (U.S.) for 25 pills. The site listed XTZ natural ingredients as caffeine, free-form amino acids, antioxidants, vitamins B6 and B2, and black pepper extract.


Police said there was no evidence to suggest the two Guvernment cases were connected. Alexander said he believes the victims did not purchase the pills at the club.


Attempts to contact The Guvernment last night were unsuccessful.


Police say they issued the alert to warn people about the possible dangers of the natural ecstasy substitutes.


"Even though some of these things are billed as safe, it may not be the case," said Alexander.



http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/452556







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[top]Man dies after taking 'herbal ecstasy' at club

Police are warning club-goers against taking products sold as herbal ecstasy after a patron of Toronto's Guvernment nightclub died earlier this week and another fell ill.


The 55-year-old man collapsed early Monday morning after allegedly taking "Pure Rush," a product sold over the counter as a natural, safe and legal alternative to ecstasy. The man collapsed shortly after ingesting the substance and was pronounced dead in hospital.


Another woman collapsed at the club the following day after taking ecstasy or the so-called herbal alternative. The woman collapsed early Tuesday morning and is currently in critical condition in an area hospital.
Police said the man had a history of high blood pressure but they don't know if it was a factor in his death.


Guvernment owner/operator Charles Khabouth alleged that the victim bought the substance at a "head shop" on Yonge Street and ingested it before he entered the club, adding the Guvernment has a strictly-enforced drug search for anyone coming in.


"The search is so thorough that we probably see 50 people over the weekend who get scared by how thorough it is and don't want to come in," he told CTV.ca in a phone interview on Wednesday. "We do not take chances."


His staff will confiscate any drug that is not easily identified as a common legal substance such as Tylenol or Advil, he said.


"We have buckets of water where the search happens. If we find anything we do not understand, it will be dropped in the bucket or people can just walk away," said Khabouth. "Anything that would say 'ecstasy' would definitely be dropped."


Ecstasy, a member of the amphetamine class of psychoactive drugs, gives users a euphoric sensation. It is popular in the club scene and is said to allow users to stay awake longer than usual.


"Pure Rush" is often sold at stores known for selling drug paraphernalia.


Similar products, calling themselves "natural" or "herbal" ecstasy, can also be purchased online. They often contain of highly levels of caffeine or ephedra, a Chinese herb and stimulant used in asthma medicines and decongestants.



http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/loc...TorontoNewHome

[Abrad]

I wonder what was in it...

[Bajeda]

Perhaps someone living in Canada knows or could find out. The product doesn't seem to be available or even mentioned online.


However....

Similar products, calling themselves "natural" or "herbal" ecstasy, can also be purchased online. They often contain of highly levels of caffeine or ephedra, a Chinese herb and stimulant used in asthma medicines and decongestants.

[Lobsang]

One website promotes another such product, XTZ, as a "party pill" and six-hour "energy booster," charging $24.21 (U.S.) for 25 pills. The site listed XTZ natural ingredients as caffeine, free-form amino acids, antioxidants, vitamins B6 and B2, and black pepper extract.

WEll obviously the active ingredient is the "free form amino acids". I read some reports of pppeople who took this stuff on the internet and it seems powerful. So the deal is . What are they using and calling an amino acid. Because we generally think of amino acids as the standard ones we know in nutrition and simple physiology. But no no no. They can extend into much more than that chemically. So I wonder what "amino acid" they are using to give the effect. We often forget there are all kinds of amino acids other than those involved with protein and many have profound effects on the nervous system. So this stuff looks like a health food supplement but be very very active and of questionable safety..

[Alfa]

Until we know what the product 'Pure Rush' is, we do not know whats in it. I am really interested to find out. There are several products that have either 'Pure' or 'Rush' in its name.

[mickenator]

ERBAL ECSTASY
OTHER NAMES
Ma huang
E phedra, Cloud 9
Herbal Bliss
Ritual Spirit
Herbal X,
Rave Energy
Ultimate Euphoria.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Herbal ecstasy is a combination of stimulants - ephedrine (ma huang), or pseudoephedrine and caffeine (kola nut) - that may simulate the effects of ecstasy. It is commonly used as a stimulant or weight-loss agent and is available at many health food stores and by mail order from sources advertised in drug culture magazines. Ephedra or ma huang is an ingredient in some Chinese herbal medications and in nutritional supplements such as Metabolift and Metabolife 356. A 300-mg dose of ephedra is equivalent to 30 mg of ephedrine. Ephedrine is found in many over-the-counter cold preparations. Neither ephedra nor its extracted form ephedrine are regulated by the US Food and Drug Administration. Some preparations combined ephedra with pseudoephedrine and caffeine. Besides herbal ecstasy, there are many ephedra-based conconctions: raptor and magic mushrooms, to name two.
DESIRED EFFECTS
The effects of herbal ecstasy last 3 to 4 hours when taken orally. Three tablets taken together have an effect similar to amphetamines or a large dose of caffeine.
ADVERSE EFFECTS
Adverse effects include tachycardia, hypertension, stroke, seizure, myocardial infarction, and death. The doses needed to produce these effects are not known. These substances are not regulated by the FDA, and it is hard to know exactly how much of any given substance a product contains.
MANAGEMENT OF OVERDOSE
An overdose of herbal ecstasy may be associated with restlessness, muscle spasms, tachycardia, dry throat, and cold extremities. Neither ephedra or ephedrine should be used by people with cardiac problems or high blood pressure. Hypertension in persons who have overdosed on herbal ecstasy may respond to the use of benzodiazepines to decrease anxiety. Nitroprusside should be used in hypertensive crisis.

[Lobsang]

Well those things labled as herbal ecstasy may contain much more than a mixture of stimlants only. Along with stimulants things like DXM and the above stated "amino acids" as well as just about anything.

[Euphoric]

Incidents involving herbal drugs keep club on heightened alert

Man passed out in bar, died after taking pill
Jul 03, 2008 04:30 AM


On most Monday mornings the Guvernment gets at least five or six nasty emails from partiers still feeling violated by the bouncers who searched them for drugs.

Guards at the front entrance are so thorough, said owner Charles Khabouth yesterday, they glide their hands inside women's bras to check for tiny pills. If potential patrons are carrying tiny vials of liquid, such as Visine, security guards make them squirt it into their eyes to prove it is actually eye drops, and not an illicit substance, which they wouldn't put in their eyes for fear of the damage it would cause.

"It's a little much," he said. "But it gets to the point where it's complete paranoia."

That paranoid feeling, mingled with depression, was reinforced for Khabouth this weekend when two people passed out inside his complex, near Lake Shore Blvd. E. and Jarvis St., after taking Pure Rush, an over-the-counter, legal supplement hailed as herbal ecstasy.

A 55-year-old man was pronounced dead at St. Michael's Hospital Monday morning and a 27-year-old woman remained in an induced coma yesterday as doctors tried to stabilize her.

At a Markham nightclub last week, 21-year-old Nicole Le, of Surrey, B.C., collapsed on the floor, frothing at the mouth. Police await the results of toxicology tests to determine how she died. York Region police are searching for witnesses.

The 55-year-old man, who was attending Revival, the 10th annual Pride week bash at Guvernment, which attracts all ages and was hosted by a promoter called Prism, didn't pop the pill inside the club, Khabouth said police told him. The man bought it at a Yonge St. head shop, Khabouth relayed, downed it immediately, hopped in a cab and passed Guvernment's strict door security. "There's nothing we could do," Khabouth said.

The death is the second drug overdose in the nightclub's history, Khabouth said. And it is the third death. A bouncer was shot and killed six years ago after asking a patron to butt out a joint.

The 55-year-old man, who was seen by an in-house paramedic at Guvernment just before an ambulance was called, had pre-existing heart conditions, police said.

Health issues, especially heart problems, combined with alcohol and herbal ecstasy can be a lethal concoction, said naturopathic doctor Mahalia Freed.

The U.S. Federal Drug Administration website indicates that variations of the "legal" drug contain ephedra.

Best known as a weight-loss supplement, ephedra was taken off the market a few years ago because of potentially lethal side effects. Licensed practitioners in Canada can use it in various formulations, Freed said.

"It's hard on the heart," she said. "It's not used frequently because of that."

http://www.thestar.com/article/453220