Pubdate: Mon, 30 Jan 2012
Source: Gulf News, The (CN NF)
Copyright: 2012 Transcontinental Media Network
Contact: http://www.gulfnews.ca/index.cfm?pid=3275
Website: http://www.gulfnews.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2966
Author: Brodie Thomas

ECSTATIC OVER A DRUG BUST

On Thursday morning, news broke that Port aux Basques RCMP had seized 
a large quantity of marijuana and ecstasy from a house in Port aux Basques.

The story posted to The Gulf News website went slightly viral, at 
least in local terms, gathering over four thousand hits in a few 
hours. Few stories get that many hits in a week.

It shows the interest and the concern people have in our community 
about illicit drugs.

It's no secret that many in our society see marijuana as a relatively 
harmless recreation drug. Even some of those leaving comments on our 
web story said marijuana needs to be legalized while criticizing 
those who sell ecstasy. The federal Liberals passed a motion to 
legalize pot at their recent convention.

Ecstasy, on the other hand, is scary for many citizens because of how 
it is manufactured and what it can do.

There's really no telling what one is getting when purchasing an 
ecstasy tablet. Technically, ecstasy is the street name for a drug 
called MDMA (Methylenedioxymethamphetamine). However, pills on the 
street are more likely to be a rough mixture of MDMA, amphetamine, 
methamphetamine, ephedrine and caffeine, among other things, 
according to Wikipedia.

What this means is users can be playing Russian roulette by taking 
even one pill. Health officials in British Columbia say 16 people 
died in that province from ecstasy overdoses last year. A recent 
spate of deaths in Western Canada were linked to ecstasy pills 
manufactured with a lethal drug called PMMA.

We're left to wonder if the 3,000 pills were meant for our small 
corner of the island, or if they were just on their way to larger 
markets in the rest of the province.

Although some have criticized the so-called war on drugs waged by 
western governments, there aren't many people in Port aux Basques who 
aren't thankful today that members of our local RCMP were able to 
prevent these dangerous and potentially lethal pills from hitting our streets.

Kudos to the RCMP in this matter.
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart