One teenage girl is dead and another remains in hospital after swallowing pills they thought contained MDMA or ecstasy after school on Friday.
The unidentified 16-year-old girl’s overdose death marks the latest in a long line of fatalities in British Columbia’s ongoing drug epidemic. It’s a crisis that continues to push beyond the realm of hard-core street users and into the lives of teens who still believe the substances they buy are safe.
“We have a situation that I think right now is unprecedented,” Lower Mainland Purpose Society executive director Dawn Embree told CTV Vancouver on Monday. “What’s different now is that you can take a drug and you can die in a moment.”
Police said the two girls from New Westminster, B.C. thought they purchased MDMA or ecstasy from a street-level dealer. What they got instead is under investigation as officers scramble to track down the deadly supply.
“It is deeply concerning,” said Sgt. Jeff Scott of the New Westminster Police Department. “At this point we don’t know what the drug is, other than it is sold in pill form as MDMA or ecstasy.”
Police said the girls were walking from a park to a friend’s house on Friday afternoon when one collapsed on a quiet suburban sidewalk. It is unclear if the girl who fatally overdosed died at the scene or in hospital. The other girl, who is also 16, was rushed to hospital in critical condition and is now said to be stable.
Both were students at Power Alternate Secondary School, a small campus with just eight staff members and 66 of the city’s most vulnerable students between 16 and 18 years old.
“The program is devastated,” said Janet Grant, associate superintendent of New Westminster Schools. “It's a terrible tragedy, and one that's much larger than our school district.”
The school district said it mobilized its “critical incident response plan” to help students cope on their first day back on Monday following the loss of their classmate.
Parents issuing desperate warnings
According to a report from the BC Coroners Service, there were 347 drug overdose fatalities in British Columbia between January and March, putting the total on track to surpass the record 931 illicit drug deaths last year.
Julie Innes’ 21-year-old daughter Jaelyn died of an accidental overdose on April 27. Fentanyl was found in her toxicology report.
Innes stresses that parents should do their best not to judge their kids for the decisions they make, and above all, be open to having difficult conversations about drugs and the pressure to use them.
“All of our kids are subject to this. We have a problem,” she said. “I’m running across parents who are telling me, ‘Well my kid will never to this.’ Well guess what? That’s what we said too.”
With a report from CTV Vancouver’s David Molko
