Paramethoxyamphetamine, or PMA, is similar to ecstasy but gives users a less-intense high. Some illicit drug labs have manufactured the cheaper PMA to resemble ecstasy, right down to the pill size, color and logos.

When users take PMA and get a poor buzz, they sometimes are tempted to take more of the drug, thinking it's just weak ecstasy. And that can be fatal, because PMA's side-effects include raising body temperatures to dangerously high levels. Ecstasy overdose deaths, on the other hand, are considered rare.

PMA is only now showing up on the U.S. rave scene. In Naperville, Ill., an 18-year-old girl died after taking what she thought was ecstasy, but in reality was PMA. The drug caused her temperature to soar to 108 degrees, causing her internal organs to shut down.

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