Pa ee ee ee ee ooaww ¢" SHREK HHEHE TE HEESEE FOE HEF EEE HESS ORR ORD SRE, Mae ee arent ee ese > F896 4 9 9 © aay gage eet” i ae aa ears ‘ea Pa VA oe 999% eres: % * x viet eae Eee Ot! a, vio yeas 8) kas Ne . vette aes seas September 26, ‘1985 PAGE'3 3lack Death on campus Ottawa [CUP] - College and university students are risk- ing brain hemorrhages and heart failure during exam time by gobbling a stimulant which is easy to buy on the street or over the counter in drug stores. Phenylpropanolamine or PPA is one of several chemi- cals found in Black Beauties, and is also used in Contac C, Coricidin, Sinutab and other decongestants. The drug shrinks blood vessels in the nose and-élsewhere, eliminat- ing congestion and raising blood pressure. Dr. Bryan Young, a neuro- logist at Victoria Hospital in London, Ont. thinks the drug and another, pseudo-ephe- drine, are the’cause of serious brain hemorrhages in four of his young patients in the past year. The patients included a high school™student and -a university student. Young, also an assistant professor at the University of Western Ontario, said. Black Beauties caused the problem in all four cases: But Young is - worried university students. ‘taking large doses of cold medicines to stay awake could also have problems. London pharmacists say cold remedy sales skyrocket at exam time. — The drug is especially dan- gerous in quick release forms of the medicine and tablets, which the blood stream ab- sorbs much more quickly then the capsules, Young said. In a recent U.S. experi- ment, 50 healthy medical stu- dents each took 50mg of PPA. Two develped dangerously high blood pressure and needed emergency medical " medication. Antihistamines’ like Ornade, Ornex and Dimatab come in sustained release - capsules. Others like Corici- din are tablets containing 25mg of PPA. Suggested maximum dosage is three a day. Sinuvit recommends taking one tablet every four hours. Each tablet contains 25mg of PPA. ‘‘The maxi- mum you would be exposed to is about 150mg a day,’’ said Jean Sattar, with public re- lations at Health and Welfare Canada. “That drug is very avail- able,’’ Young said. ‘‘We’ve seen many more problems with this than with harder drugs because it’s so avail- able.’’ Because the drug is not illegal, RCMP. are unable to control it. ‘‘Kids know it’s not illegal,’ said Corporal Douglas Wadstein of the London RCMP. ‘‘People walk around with a couple hundred (Black Beauties) in their pocket.’’ Wasstein said the drug can only be stopped at the border. “It’s not scheduled as a control drug - if a shipment comes in with a dosage that is not appropriate, the govern- ment will seize it under fed- eral food and drug laws,’’ he said. Canadian dealers buy Black Beauties by the hundreds from U.S. mail order compan- ies and smuggle them into Canada. They are easy to get on most university and col- lege campuses at exam time. Robert Armstrong, assis- tant director of non-prescrip- tion drugs at Health and Welfare Canada in Ottawa, is not overly worried about PPA abuse. ‘‘It’s legally used in cold remedies,’’ he said. “The instructions are there on the label,’’ Armstrong said. ‘‘There’s nothing else we can do if people are stupid enough to ignore them.’’ He insisted, however, that PPA as found in Black Beaut- ies is not legal. ‘It’s a drug and you cannot market a drug unless you have a drug identi- fication number,’’ Armstrong said. ‘‘We have not given it a number.’’ Armstrong admitted the drug was dangerous. ‘’l have seen a person shake for six hours after taking one cold tablet,’’ he said. But he said the government discourages listing side ef- fects of drugs on the labels, because they buy. the drug to get the side effects. Armstrong said PPA was obviously dangerous to those with high blood pressure, but Young ean he could not tell what caused certain people to have brain hemorrhages after using the drug. The RCMP in London has applied to its central office in Toronto for money to print 500 copies of a Black Beauty and PPA warning poster. The force plans to distribute the posters for display in Ontario high schools. THAT WAS SOME PARTY... ~ Shingler: resigns Montreal {(CUP] - Another prominent..member of the Canadian South Africa Society has resigned since the publi- cation of comments made last month by. society president _ James McAvity. McGill University professor John Shingler said in his letter of resignation that the comments made by McAvity ‘smack of racism’’ and have made the society ‘’a laughing stock’’. The Canadian South Africa Society, founded in 1979, is a lobby group supporting in- vestment in South Africa. Most of its funding comes from the South Africa founda- tion, an international organi- zation based in Johannes- burg. The foundation is funded mainly by South African corp- orations. John Shingler, a director of the society since 1980, teaches the only course on South Africa at McGill. His connections to the society were revealed by The McGill - Daily last year. In July, McAvity told the Montreal Gazette that the Canadian government was dealing incompetently with South Africa. He said there will be no surrender of power by whites in South Africa and: that negotiations would not happen ‘‘until they can get that black mob under con- trol’’. He also called Prime Minister Brian Mulroney a ““pipsqueak’’. Shingler’s resignation fol- lows those of Jeanne Sauve’s husband, a former. vice-presi- dent of the society, and a Montreal Anglican Cannon. In his letter of resignation to McAvity, Shingler said: ‘I do not wish to be associated with any organization that because of the statements of one of its officers, smacks of racism and may, however inaccurately and unfairly, be portrayed as an agency of the National Party government of. South Africa and a supporter of apartheid.’’ Last year, the Daily also revealed that Shingler operated a consult- ing firm out of Montreal called ‘‘John Shingler and ~ vestment, Graphic/The Journal ~~ Associates - Consultants on South Africa.’’ That phone is - now disconnected. The South African consul- ate in Montreal, when asked for a good source for infor- ‘mation on_ investment/di- names Shingler. Rina Carsen at the consul- ate said he was ‘‘particularly well informed on the subject of disinvestment.’” The Canadian South African Society has about 300 members, including profes- sors and business executives. One society member in Ottawa, Leslie Barnes, told a reporter ‘‘I’ve resigned. | don’t have to give you my reason.” Uof T hits S.A. Toronto [CUP] - The Universi- ty of Toronto’s Governing Council is headed for a sec- ond round of heated debate over the school’s hefty in- vestment in companies that do business with South Africa. The council, the univer- sity’s top administrative body, is expected to again take up the contentious issue Sept. 10, shortly after a group of students concludes an Orientation Week petition campaign. The campaign will protest the $6 million U of T has invested in banks and corporations that deal with South Africa. In South Africa four million whites make the ee AS A CANADIAN | FIND APARTHE!D ABHORRENT TO MY DEMOCRATIC SENSIBILITIES th Ses > etc sete See AND, ASA BUSINESSMAV | SEE MY SouTH AFKiCH SUPER - PROFITS A DIREcT RESULT OF, THAT Vicious SYSTEM. IN FACT | FINO THese . PROFITS So XSTASTEFUL HAT... 7 [ SPEND THEN As FAST AS 1 CAN! laws and 24 million blacks can’t vote. The U of T Divestmen: Committee is renewing _ its efforts after presenting uni- versity president George Connell with a pro-divestment brief last November. “Faculty and students are upset about U of T’s invest- ment policies and pressure is mounting,’’ said committee member Ava Szczurko. ‘‘The situation in South Africa is making it increasingly diffi- cult for governing Council to treat the issue lightly.’’ Council failed to reach a decision at a meeting in June, leaving money in the country for the time being.