Winnipeg police are warning parents and teenagers about the dangers of deadly ecstasy pills on Winnipeg streets.
Last month 15-year-old Eddy Smith died after an overdose while using the drug.
His death is believed to be one of four overdoses reported to police in the city in the past four weeks.
"[The drugs] being manufactured by people with no chemistry background, who are adding things to build up the pill," Sgt. Rod Hourd told CTV News. "They're using battery acid, they're using lithium, they're using Coleman fuel, they're using meiotic acid."
Police believe the most toxic additive in the pills is the highly addictive narcotic methamphetamine.
"They're putting methamphetamines in to make it addictive. And that's the problem we don't know how much meth -- we just know it's dangerous."
In January, a U.S. drug agency warned that ecstasy laced with methamphetamine was being introduced into the U.S and Canada.
Police say they are cracking down on drug makers and dealers. After a 23-year-old mother accidentally overdosed on morphine recently, police charged her dealer with manslaughter.
Looking for a way out
Smith was under the care of Peguis Child and Family Services at the time of his death last month.
Danielle Karow is 19-years-old. She works as a respite worker for CFS. She thinks many more overdoses go unreported.
Karow sees a lot of young people who suffer from drug addiction, both within her circle of friends and with the young people she works with.
"Maybe they see their parents doing it, maybe they see it on the streets," she told CTV News. "They had a bad childhood and they think the drug is their exit out of it."
If you have information about people in possession of or selling any kind of drug -- police are asking that you come forward.
You can call the drug tip line at 986-3411 or Crime Stoppers at 786-8477.
With a report from CTV's Shaneen Robinson.
