Another Alberta overdose death linked to tainted ecstasy

Alberta has reported another death related to a drug overdose tainted with a toxic additive, making it the 13th such death in Western Canada since late last year.

The latest results involve a 38 year old man taken to Red Deer Regional Hospital December 10th.

Toxicology results confirm the presence of PMMA to be the dominant drug.

Get daily National news

Get daily Canada news delivered to your inbox so you'll never miss the day's top stories.

Sign up for daily National newsletter Get Started

By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

PMMA (paramethoxymethamphetamine) is a hallucinogen and is five times more toxic than ordinary ecstasy or MDMA. Experts say combining PMMA with other drugs or caffeine increases the risk of overdose.

Officials believe these deaths are a result of ecstasy pills being laced with PMMA.

This latest death adds to the total of seven people in Calgary and at least 5 in British Columbia.

Two Edmonton woman ended up in a Calgary hospital on the weekend suffering from a ecstasy overdose.

Both patients were visiting Calgary and police say they had purchased the drug in Calgary.