COPS DECLARE NO AMNESTY FOR ECSTASY

There will be no amnesty for ecstasy holders, high ranking cops said
just one day after the police commissioner mused it as a means to get
killer 'E' off the streets.

"The question was 'is the Calgary Police Service considering an
amnesty in regards to ecstasy?' I'm here to say today, right now, the
Calgary Police Service is not considering any amnesty in regards to
ecstasy," Deputy Chief Kevan Stuart said Wednesday.

Calgary Police Commissioner Charles Pratt raised the possibility of a
such a deal during a commission meeting on Tuesday.

Staff Sgt. Mike Bossley of the drug unit said it was being discussed
in light of the recent string of fatal overdoses attributed to killer
ecstasy made with paramethoxymethamphetamine, or PMMA.

Police Chief Rick Hanson was the first to come out swinging against an
idea that he said doesn't even fall within their jurisdiction.

Hanson told a local news radio station not only does such an amnesty
deal lie with the feds, it also opens the door to crooks using it as a
means to avoid arrest.

Stuart reiterated his chief's comments and provided further direction
for Calgarians who wish to dispose of ecstasy.

"If anybody has any drugs in their house (or) they have a family
members who has drugs, we're advising people to call the Calgary
Police Service," Stuart said.

"Members of the Calgary Police Service will attend your residence or
business, members of the Calgary Police Service will seize any drugs
and will dispose of them in the proper way."

Along with seizing and cataloguing or disposing of the drugs, police
would ask questions to ascertain their source.

He suggested an arrest would be unlikely, although he couldn't guarantee it.

The turnaround on an ecstasy amnesty comes as the death toll from
PMMA-made ecstasy continues to climb.

At least 10 deaths linked to ecstasy made with PMMA have been
confirmed in Calgary, Red Deer and Nanton.

Toxicology tests conducted on nine of the victims revealed "dominant"
traces of PMMA along with 3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine, or MDMA,
the psychoactive compound for which ecstasy is colloquially known.

Results have yet to be released for one of the most recent deaths.

Authorities are facing a similar crisis in B.C., where five deaths
have been attributed to ecstasy made with PMMA.

Police and Mounties in both provinces are eyeing the Lower Mainland,
where ecstasy production has exploded in recent years, as a likely
source of the killer 'E'.