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. - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart