Pubdate: Sat, 15 Dec 2001 Source: Calgary Herald (CN AB) Copyright: 2001 Calgary Herald Contact: http://www.canada.com/calgary/calgaryherald/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/66\ Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n2054/a06.html?1247 Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v01/n2044/a10.html?1247 Author: Chris Buors Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy) FREE TO BE ILL Re: "Unecstatic," Letter, Dec. 11. Now that Dr. Scott Patten has told us all about the dangers of the chemical substance 3-4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine, perhaps he can tell us about how prohibition ensures that street drugs are even more harmful because there is no regulation and no one knows what substances are being used. Next, Patten can perhaps tell us why dangerous substances such as rat poison and bleach are legal while politically designated "dangerous drugs" are not? Just because a substance is dangerous does not mean its use ought to be prohibited. The truth is that if bleach and strychnine were prohibited, people would concoct their own substances, leading to an even more dangerous underground situation. It ought to be of no concern to the state if a free man wants to eat poison. If I do my body harm, it is I who pay and not the state. Chris Buors, Winnipeg, Man. - --- MAP posted-by: Jackl