John Hayes implies in his April 30 letter that Ecstasy causes a large number of people to die from liver disease. Ecstasy in recreational doses does not harm the liver. Any doctor will tell you alcohol is the drug that does the most harm to the liver. Tobacco kills 40,000 Canadians a year, alcohol kills 15,000. Ecstasy has killed, at most, a few dozen Canadians, mostly from overheating from dancing at raves. These deaths were likely preventable with accurate drug education, but the government would rather sacrifice these kids' lives so it can say Ecstasy is "dangerous." [continues 62 words]
RCMP Staff Sgt.Keith Hilderbrand has stated that all other drug issues have "taken the back burner" while his troops chase marijuana growers. This is absurd. The Richmond area RCMP drug squad spend most of their time and budget chasing the softest illegal drug out there-marijuana. Then, they publicly admit it. I don't know about you, but it seems to me that with these enforcement priorities, someone in the RCMP is on drugs. Dean Fournier, Ottawa [end]