Another Teen Victim –
Ecstasy Suspected In Edmonton Death

By RICHARD LIEBRECHT, QMI Agency

EDMONTON - The mother of a 19-year-old woman suspected of taking ecstasy at a rave the night before she died wants her death to serve as a reminder of the dangers of drugs.

Bright, active in her community and supportive of her family, 19-year-old Anna Maria Blikowski always said she knew better than to take drugs, said her mother Ewa: "She kept saying, You have to trust me, because I know about this stuff.”

The family talked even about past tragedies involving the drug ecstasy.

Ewa said she went to work at 6:30 p.m. last Saturday (May 1), knowing Anna was going out with her boyfriend and best friend to a party.  She didn't know until the next day, after police told her, that Anna had headed to a rave at the Edmonton Events Centre.

Toxicology reports are still being conducted, but police told Ewa that the group Anna was with that night took ecstasy. Anna ended up going to her boyfriend's house after he went home feeling sick.

Anna slept 12 hours, until 2 p.m., and still didn't wake up, said Ewa. By 5 p.m., when an ambulance was called, her heart was beating very slowly.

Ewa was getting ready for work when police came to the house Sunday at about 6:30 p.m.

Police rushed Ewa to the hospital, sirens blaring, to see her daughter. But Anna died before her mother could reach her.

"There is no word to express how I feel right now. This was the greatest love in our lives," said Ewa.

A police investigation into the death continues.

Ewa said she hasn't slept much, and has thought over what she could've done to prevent the death.

"Talk and talk and talk with the kids. Talk about these tragedies," she advised parents.

Editor’s note:  A-DES’ last edition of its Prevention Network Newsletter focused exclusively on ecstasy and the dangers that lurk for youth who take so-called “social” or “party” drugs without knowing what they actually contain.