November 13, 2002 News the other pr UBC, RCMP Examine Ecstasy Ingredients Carly Fay The Ubyssey VANCOUVER (CUP)—A recent study conducted at the University of British Columbia with the help of the RCMP has found that most ecstasy pills also contain numerous other drugs, other than what the buyer is looking for. Dr. Keith McErlane, a University of British Columbia professor of pharmaceu- tical sciences who is working with the RCMP as part of their drug awareness program, has been analyzing the ecstasy pills and says that the pills are not con- taminated by accident. “Contaminants are something that shouldn't be there. These are put here on purpose,” McErlane said. He speculates that they are finding other substances in ecstasy because people prefer the effects of more than one drug. These other drugs include methanphet- amines and even cough suppressants. Over the past four years the police have seized over 1,200 pills from raves, clubs and other locations. These drugs have been sent to a lab at the University to be tested for the presence of 14 different kinds of drugs. What they have found is that although most of the pills seized contain only one type of drug, some have been found to contain several additional drugs including cocaine, heroine and, most frequently, caf- feine. Ecstasy is a hallucinogenic and stimula- tory drug and is reported to increase the user's awareness of sound and colour. Its side effects include grinding of the teeth, loss of appetite, and dehydration. Corporal Scott Rintoul, a drug-aware- ness coordinator with the RCMP and part of a task force that monitors drug trends, said that there has definitely been an increase in ecstasy usage. In addition, the last four years have seen the use of ecstasy move from raves to night clubs and even to house parties. The drug is being more widely used and isn’t linked to specific subcultures anymore, said Rintoul. “We've seen disturbing trends and the trends are getting worse,” said Rintoul. “Now ecstasy has become very main- stream.” Dr. Patricia Mirwaldt, director of Student Health Services at the University of British Columbia says that she is not aware of any problems with ecstasy on campus but there have been students who have admitted to trying the drug. “We don’t have evidence it’s a particular problem at UBC,” Mirwaldt said. Students who report having anxiety or trouble sleeping are commonly asked if they have used the drug, Mirwaldt added. She also says that students are warned about the negative effects of ecstasy and, Canada’s Voting System Needs an Overhaul, Says Fair Vote By Kris Meen The Gateway EDMONTON (CUP)—If you think youre wasting your vote on election day, youre not alone. National voter reform group Fair Vote Canada thinks our voting system is skew- ing results and squandering votes from an increasingly frustrated electorate, and is hoping to share its views with the University of Alberta. Fair Vote Canada believes a move towards a system of proportional repre- sentation would better serve Canadian voters and wants to show how Alberta can spearhead such a move. “Most democracies use a system of pro- portional representation, the point of that © page 4 system [being] to ensure that a party’s share of seats in parliament is a reasonable reflection of its share of the popular vote in a general election,” said Doug Bailie, chair of the local Fair Vote Canada chap- ter. Proportional representation gives seats in the assembly based on the percentage of people in the country who voted for that party, unlike the current first-past-the- post system, which elects representatives if the candidate simply wins the most votes in their riding. But the current system can often result in misrepresentation of voter interests in the House of Commons. For example, Bailie pointed to the 1993 federal election where drastic discrepancies occurred in the number of seats gained compared to popular vote. In that election the Reform Party earned 52 seats based on 18 percent of the vote. But the Progressive Conservatives only managed to elect two MPs with 16 per- cent, less than a three percent difference in popular vote from Reform. Opponents of proportional representa- tion often point to Israel and Italy as examples of how it.can result in political instability, with both countries rarely electing governments lasting a full term. But such nay-sayers are grasping at straws, Bailie said. “Opponents point to Israel and Italy... because those are the only two they can point to,” he said. Democracies using pro- portional representation are on the rise, Bailie said, pointing to recent changes in New Zealand and the new Scottish and Welsh assemblies in the United Kingdom. Noted Edmonton Journal editorial writer Mark Lisac will be speaking at the discussion, in a talk entitled “Why Alberta Must Lead Reform of the Voting System.” Lisac believes the best way to start a nationwide change is to start at the provincial level. “If people are serious about making a change at the national level, the best way to do it is to put that change into effect in Alberta, show how it works and leave peo- ple in the rest of the country wondering why they can’t have the same benefits,” he said. While covering the last couple of elec- tions, Lisac noticed that people had become much more disconnected from governance—something that proportion- in the case of a serious problem with drug, students would be referred to counselling office or a psychiatrist loca on campus or to a 12-step program n the school. In order to create public awareness, RCMP has published the findings of study and copies have been sent to sch counselors and police agencies. “Taking synthetic drugs could put at a high degree of risk,” said Rintoul, “ big question is: does it lead to depend cy? The evidence suggests that it does.” While research on specific drugs is c rently going on worldwide, not m researchers are studying the effects o mixture of drugs, said Rintoul. “We don’t know the toxicity of taki methanphetamine, ketamine and ecst together, we don't know the side effects long term effects yet,” Rintoul said. Either way, he suggests that people t ing synthetic drugs could face problems the future. “I think that you only have life. Make healthy life choices,” Rint said. al representation could perhaps deal wi “People were more and more demor ized and disengaged with politics... see no effective means for an effect opposition voice to be heard in the parl ment or the legislature, and they just do know where to turn,” said Lisac. Fair Vote Canada is currently circulati a petition, which Bailie hopes will gr into a call for a referendum on the voti system issue. But there are significant hurdles to ov come, especially a dim view of electo reform in the Prime Minister's office, s Bailie. “This has always been the problem w proportional representation because t only people who can change the voti system is the government,” said Bai “Yet the government has been elec under the current system, so it isn't their interest to change the system.”