24-year-old woman died and five others were taken to hospital from two local nightclubs Apr. 7, 2017.
Toronto police have issued a public safety alert after six suspected drug overdoses – one of them fatal – occurred in close proximity early Saturday morning.
A 24-year-old woman died and five others were taken to hospital from two local nightclubs. All six cases were reported to involve the use of the party drug ecstasy.
"Drug overdoses are common. We have them in the city. But what is uncommon is that we had so many in such a short period of time, all in the same place," said Toronto Police Service Constable David Hopkinson, noting suspicion that the overdose cases are related to each other.
Drug overdoses are on the rise in Toronto. According to the city, overdose deaths have increased by 73 per cent over the past decade.
Police were called to Uniun Nightclub at 12:42 a.m. after a woman collapsed. She was taken to the hospital and later pronounced dead. While police were investigating, another woman at the nightclub collapsed. She is in hospital in serious condition.
At 1:30 a.m. police received three calls to REBEL Nightclub, where two men and one woman had collapsed, also from suspected overdoses. All three are in hospital but are not in serious condition.
One other person was also treated for a drug overdose, but is no longer in hospital. Constable Hopkinson said it is not known which of the two clubs he was at.
Health Canada says ecstasy, also known as methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), is often considered safe by its users, but can cause short and long-term symptoms and complications that lead to death. Many pills contain additional drugs or filler, which can be more dangerous.