Kent Driscoll
Northern News Services
Monday, May 07, 2007

CAPE DORSET - Cape Dorset achieved a dubious distinction last week, becoming the home of Nunavut's largest ever ecstasy bust.

Mary Oshutsiaq and her sister Etusajuk Oshutsiaq - 34 and 18 years-old respectively - were charged with possession of a controlled substance for the purposes of trafficking.

The substance was ecstasy and the sisters had 296 pills, along with a small quantity of marijuana in their possession when they were arrested.

Following a week-long investigation, Cape Dorset RCMP received a search warrant, which they executed on April 29.

The two will appear in court later this year.

"This is the first real seizure we have had of any amount (of ecstasy)," said Cpl. Randy Slawson of the Iqaluit RCMP's V Division.

"Occasionally, we will pick up someone with it, at the street level. The drug guys tell me that it is available around Iqaluit," said Slawson.

According to the RCMP, the pills retail for $10 a pill in southern centres, but sell for around $20 a pill in Nunavut.

The problem is that you never know what is in the pill.

"We have sent the pills off for analysis. You just don't know what you are getting," said Slawson.

The drug is best known for its association with raves - all night drug-fuelled dance parties.

Scientists at Johns Hopkins University have found Parkinson's disease -type damage in animals injected with the drug, which creates a sense of euphoria in users.

That study also showed that four days of exposure to the drug could be measured six years later in humans.