Don't do it! Stop! Think about it! - That pretty much explains what DARE is. Let me tell you why. You know that alcohol, drugs (like marijuana, etc.) and tobacco are bad for you, but you don't know much. And golly, there's much more than that. Let me start off with some facts for why alcohol, drugs and tobacco is bad for you.

Let me start off with tobacco. You probably know some of these already. Like that smoking with cigarettes is the most common way to use tobacco. You also probably know that it causes heart disease. It can also cause breathing problems. That means if you just smoke a small cigarette, it could kill you. It's a shock, right?

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Well educated, yet feeling aimless and suffering from low self-esteem, Adam decided to pursue a clandestine career that would earn him hundreds of thousands of dollars.

It would prove devastating to him and his family.

Adam was an occasional ecstasy user and one day his friend suggested that he should try making it himself.

"It sounded lucrative and exciting and at that point in my life I was lost," said Adam.

His Calgary operation started small, but grew larger. As the money rolled in, he invested in better equipment. With better equipment, he made more money.

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Police Say Deaths Linked to Drug Shipped by Organized Crime From This Province

CALGARY - If history is any guide, the ecstasy that has killed 10 people in southern Alberta since last July likely came from the Lower Mainland.

Law enforcement agencies around the world have identified Canada as a major exporter of ecstasy, and the Lower Mainland is considered one of the main places where it's made.

"It seems to be it's being controlled by certain organized crime groups and the majority of ecstasy coming into Alberta is coming from B.C.," said Sgt. Donna Hanson, the RCMP'S drug awareness co-ordinator for Alberta.

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PMMA Added to Boost Sales, Former Drug Maker Says

By the time Adam's mid-level ecstasy lab in Calgary was discovered by police, he was making hundreds of thousands of dollars producing the drug. He ran his operation for three years, but has since done time in prison and turned his life around. He now works in a downtown office and says he has nothing to do with manufacturing the drug.

Given his unique experience and perspective, the Herald has agreed to use the pseudonym to get his input on this important health concern. Here is a condensed version of the interview, which runs in its entirety at calgaryherald.com

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Police Still Seeking Drug Maker of Deadly Ecstasy

After following four shipments of solvents to the rural address in Richmond, B.C., Sgt. Dave Williams and his fellow Mounties suspected there could well be ecstasy at the four-hectare property on the banks of the Fraser River.

But when the Mounties searched a house and barn even they were surprised by what they found in June 2008.

There were two commercial pill presses, empty solvent drums, compressed gas cylinders, pails of waste, ventilation fans, commercial and household mixers, cooking equipment and plenty of drugs.

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Demand for Rave Drug Feeds Pipeline From B.C. to Deaths In Alberta

If history is any guide, the ecstasy that has killed 10 people in southern Alberta since last July likely came from B.C.'s Lower Mainland.

Law enforcement agencies around the world have identified Canada as a major exporter of ecstasy, and the Lower Mainland is considered one of the main places where it's made.

"It seems to be it's being controlled by certain organized crime groups and the majority of ecstasy coming into Alberta is coming from B.C.," said Sgt. Donna Hanson, the RCMP's drug awareness co-ordinator for Alberta.

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In the wake of eight local deaths caused by tainted ecstasy, a local organization says it will host a drug awareness week in May.

After holding a cross-Canada walk last year, Drug Awareness Foundation Calgary is hoping to spend a full week focusing on the dangers of drugs.

"It's very important that we keep the message going all the time," said foundation president Surinder Dyal. "What would be better than bringing it for a full week?"

Last year, foundation members started April 1 in St. John's, N.L., and spent six months slowly making their way all across Canada, ending up in Victoria six months later, on Oct. 3.

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Larger Security Presence Keeps Eye Out for Drugs

Two men dressed as giant bananas and more than 5,000 other electronic music enthusiasts attended Frequency on Sunday night, an all-night dance event organized by Boodang Music Canada.

The marathon party at the Shaw Conference Centre, which ended at 6 a.m. Monday, served as the first test of city council's recent demand that Edmonton's rave organizers take steps to curb alcohol and drug abuse at events.

"We try our best to prevent any drugs from coming in," said Viet Nguyen, operating partner with Boodang. But he acknowledged keeping illegal drugs completely out of events like Frequency may not be possible.

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Frustration is rising as city officials busted a second federally approved medicinal marijuana grow-op for several building codes violations.

Investigators with the city's Coordinated Safety Response (CSR) team discovered numerous hazards and safety code infractions in a Calgary residence, the location of which officials declined to disclose.

Alberta Health Services has issued an executive order declaring the property to be unfit for human habitation.

Wayne Brown, co-ordinator of CSR, said Thursday the new case "is especially disturbing" as hazardous violations have been uncovered including electrical and water bypasses, evidence of a previous fire, illegal electrical wiring, mould growth, spider mite infestation on plants, toxins and chemicals.

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Re: "Where does bizarre crime fixation of Conservatives come from?" Michael Den Tandt, Opinion, Feb. 15.

Tories seeking to emulate the tough-on-some-drugs policies of Canada's southern neighbour can expect similar results. Despite zero tolerance, more U.S. teenagers use marijuana than tobacco.

Tobacco use has declined considerably in Canada and the U.S. Public education has proven more effective than mass incarceration.

The decline in highly addictive tobacco use was accomplished without any need to jail smokers or further enrich cartels via tobacco prohibition.

The drug war has done little other than give the U.S. the highest incarceration rate in the world.

Robert Sharpe

Washington, D.C.

[end]

Four former Attorneys-General of British Columbia - spanning two political parties (NDP and Liberal) and fourteen years in office - have called for the legalization of marijuana. The federal government (Conservative) continues to move towards harsher drug penalties including for the marijuana trade. This political split mirrors opinion in the country, where periodic polls do not show a solid, sustaining majority one way or the other on the issue.

Marijuana and harder drugs were not much of a concern in Canada more than half a century ago when I went through my school years here in Alberta, then moved on to military colleges in Victoria and Kingston, without encountering any drugs or users. But the recreational narcotics climate began shifting in the latter part of the 1960s. Whether this was part of a world trend, a North American loosening up in reaction to the Vietnam War, or whatever, the winds of change had a distinct burning leaf odour. My first close awareness came in the summer of 1971, soon after U.S. President Nixon famously proclaimed the "War on Drugs." Having a health issue requiring surgery, I shared a room in an Ottawa military hospital with a chatty airman from the local military aviation base. He explained that the junior ranks quarters there commonly reeked of marijuana fumes. Some years later as a lawyer I had to review the transcript of a court martial from our army in Germany - the barracks scene ! depicted sounded pretty much what the airman had described earlier.

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Rife with illegal wiring, unsafe chemicals: city

With the illegal wiring, fire-charred wall and meter-bypassing water system, the home that city inspectors searched Wednesday had all the hallmarks of an illegal pot grow op.

The key factor distinguishing this one: its owner had a Health Canada licence to grow medical marijuana plants for ailing Calgarians.

It's the second time this year authorities inspected a legal pot grower, and the second time violations prompted the home to be fenced off and declared unfit for habitation.

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Congratulations on your excellent Feb. 12 editorial calling for more heat to be placed on drug dealers, particularly those dealing in ecstasy. The move by police to publish photos is a great step in this direction. I worked enforcing narcotic laws in Canada for many years and always found our revolving door justice system does nothing to deter those who make a fortune on others' misery. In my day, MDA was called the "love drug." This later became MDMA (ecstasy) which took over the rave movement in Europe and later invaded this country. I would point out, many youths died in Europe from this same drug. Let's face it, there is no quality control over how these illegal drugs are produced, many in home laboratories. Those using drugs manufactured in this fashion are always playing with death. Shaming and naming pushers may well go a long way in preventing more of our youths from dying needlessly. Education in our schools would also play a crucial rule in getting the! message out about the risks.

Larry Comeau

(Right.)

[end]

Bob Rae can gripe about "evidence-based decision-making" all he likes. The truth is that, on the big economic files, Conservatives are the party most consistently hewing to reason and common sense. It's why they keep getting elected.

All of which makes their bizarrely irrational, ham-fisted, counterproductive handling of justice and security all the more odd. What do Rob Nicholson and Vic Toews think they're achieving, beyond throwing occasional hunks of dripping meat to a social conservative base that, truth be told, is secure without it? Are they afraid the Charles Bronsons across the aisle will accuse them of being soft on crime? Here's a thought: Perhaps Tories should rather begin to worry that fair minded Canadians from all regions may come to view them as demagogues.

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Dealers of Death Should Get Their Share of the Agony Surrounding 'Ecstasy' Tragedies

With an epidemic of drug deaths and overdoses raging, it's hard to comprehend how even the most gullible young people could risk their lives by ingesting these garbage drugs.

As John Kay of the 1960s rock band Steppenwolf sang: "I've seen a lot of people walkin' round with tombstones in their eyes, but the pusher don't care ...if you live or if you die."

Four decades later, not much has changed.

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HINTON - As the number of victims claimed by tainted ecstasy continue to increase, one has to wonder why people continue taking the risk.

Paramethoxymethamphetamine (PMMA) is a substance similar to ecstasy (MDMA), yet weaker and much more toxic. And because the drug is cheaper than MDMA it can be can be cut into ecstasy for greater profit. Those taking ecstasy laced with the weaker substance may be inclined to take more in order to get a sufficient high, greatly increasing the risk of an overdose.

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Two people were arrested Feb. 8 in Calgary after a covert operation uncovered ecstasy which tested positive for paramethoxymethamphetamine (PMMA), the chemical responsible for 14 deaths in Alberta and B.C.

With eight of the deaths occurring in Calgary and one in Red Deer, other regions of the province have not yet showed any incidences related to this case. Despite this fact local authorities are warning residents of the dangers that come along with any drug.

"The deaths in Calgary and British Columbia speak to the risks associated with that type of lifestyle," says Staff Sgt. Brain Jones of the Drayton Valley RCMP. "[Whether] you're a full-time user or a part time user, you're putting your life in someone else's hands by using that type of material. The more we learn about it, and how dangerous this one particular batch or type of ecstasy is, why would you put your life in somebody's hands when they have absolutely no regard for your safety and your concern?"

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Edmonton police are warning the public after four ecstasy-related overdoses last month at an electronic music concert.

The non-fatal overdoses on Jan. 28 may have been linked to ecstasy containing PMMA, but police are awaiting toxicology to identify the chemicals. In light of several upcoming raves and similar events, police are warning partygoers to be leery of the pills they might pop.

"You can't tell the difference between a capsule or a pill or a tablet that is truly ecstasy as opposed to one that contains other chemicals or additives like PMMA," said Det. Guy Pilon from the drug and gang section. "There are a whole cornucopia of different chemicals and drugs that are mixed together."

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Whether or Not Diaz Smoked Up During Fight Week Shouldn't Matter

Here's a highly unpopular opinion.

I don't really care if Nick Diaz smoked a joint in the days before he stepped into the cage at UFC 143.

To be honest, I don't really care if he was doing rails off a hooker's ass in his hotel room during fight week.

As long as whatever he did in the privacy of his own lifestyle didn't give him an unfair advantage -- or unsafe disadvantage -- on fight night, it's really nobody's business.

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