Pubdate: Fri, 15 Jun 2012
Source: National Post (Canada)
Copyright: 2012 Canwest Publishing Inc.
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/wEtbT4yU
Website: http://www.nationalpost.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/286
Author: Tristin Hopper

LEGALIZE ECSTASY?

In this occasional feature, the National Post tells you everything 
you need to know about a complicated issue. Today, Tristin Hopper 
looks at B.C.'S fresh drug debate:

Q - B.C.'s chief medical officer, Dr. Perry Kendall said Wednesday 
that the drug MDMA ("ecstasy") is safe in pure form. Didn't it kill 
all those people?

A - Over the past year, 16 people in Alberta, B.C., and Saskatchewan 
have indeed died after ingesting ecstasy. But the problem was not the 
ecstasy itself, it was an added ingredient, PMMA, that caused the 
users' body temperatures to rocket to lethal levels. Dr, Kendall 
posited this week that if production of MDMA was regulated, and if it 
was sold in government-regulated liquor stores, it would keep users 
out of the morgue. An Australian paper released this week would seem 
to agree. On Wednesday, researchers at the Royal Perth Hospital 
reported that increasingly impure ecstasy had recently caused three 
otherwise healthy Perth residents to suffer severe heart attacks.

Q - SO if it's the impurities that are killing people, does that mean 
MDMA is harmless?

A - In pure form, research shows that a reasonable amount of ecstasy 
is not lethal, but that doesn't mean it's entirely free of side 
effects. Toronto's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health lists more 
than a dozen MDMA side effects, although much of them are in league 
with alcohol, such as sweating, dehydration, blurred vision, nausea, 
vomiting, depression and liver damage. MDMA's most best-known side 
effect is teeth-grinding and jaw clenching, which can result in 
dental damage. It is why ravers will often suck on a pacifier during 
an ecstasy trip.

Q - still,it won't kill you if it's kept pure. Do the police care?

A - It doesn't matter if they care, since, in the eyes of the law, 
ecstasy remains in league with cocaine, crystal meth and date rape 
drug GHB. Regardless, the RCMP resolutely maintain that any amount of 
ecstasy - even pure ecstasy - is "extremely dangerous." In February, 
a spokesman for the Coquitlam RCMP told a Vancouver reporter "there 
is no such thing as a good batch or a bad batch. Every single batch 
represents a dangerous drug with a serious health risk."

Q - are impurities a problem with other illegal drugs?

A - Ironically, Canada's "controlled substances," are among the 
country's least-controlled commodities. To evade the scrutiny of law 
enforcement, narcotics are often prepared in concealed, unhygienic 
conditions with almost no incentive for quality control. In Canada, 
police raids have uncovered poorly ventilated ecstasy labs stuffed in 
residential garages and filled with dirty equipment.

Q - marijuana is entirely legal as long as you use it for medical 
purposes. Is there a medical case to be made for ecstasy?

A - Created exactly 100 years ago by German pharmaceutical maker 
Merck, the intended purpose of MDMA was as a blood-clotting agent - 
although it did not work. Recently, in clinical trials the drug has 
shown increasing promise as an effective treatment for schizophrenia, 
depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and Parkinson's Disease. 
Last year, a joint British-Australian research team found initial 
evidence that an altered form of MDMA could combat blood cancers such 
as leukemia. In late May, David Nutt, a former chief advisor on drugs 
to the British government, said controls on psychedelic drugs were 
blocking valuable efforts to test the drug's medical benefits. 
"Regulations, which are arbitrary, actually make it virtually 
impossible to research these drugs," Mr. Nutt told a London press briefing

Q - aren'tthere similar, reportedly safer, drugs that are legal?

A - Less and less. For anybody with $20 to spend on a pill, back in 
2008 there were plenty of pill-based legal ecstasy alternatives on 
offer, usually from the same stores selling sex toys or marijuana 
paraphernalia. Said to be a safe alternative to MDMA, the pills' most 
common active ingredients were BZP and TFMPP, both from a chemical 
class known as piperazines. Although the pills are not criminalized, 
they are not authorized for sale in Canada, and after a March 
amendment to Canada's Food and Drug Regulations, the pills can now be 
legally seized by law enforcement.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom