Dr. Perry Kendall: taking pure ecstasy can be "safe" when consumed responsibly by adults

B.C. chief medical officer Dr. Perry Kendall clarifies his position on use of ecstasy

B.C.'s top health official says taking pure ecstasy can be "safe" when consumed responsibly by adults, but he says he is not advocating for legalized recreational use of the drug.

His only mistake is in possibly encouraging use of this drug. However, everything he says about the criminalization of drugs is accurate. Our society is far more dangerous re drugs now that it ever was during those centuries (including thru the Industrial Revolution) when drugs were as unregulated as alcohol.

The fact is that drugs criminalization does not stop use. Period. It simply substitutes a black market supply. Biker gangs actually BRING the drugs to 'kids', and while they're at it, give the 'kids' samples of OTHER drugs to get them hooked in order to up the bikers' customer base.

The logic behind 'if it's dangerous, it should be illegal' only makes POLITICAL sense, as people like to pass the buck when something is a problem: "My problem is solved...Now it's up to the police and judges." I personally know NO-ONE under 65 who has not been 'introduced' to any illegal drug out there...and NO-ONE whose decision to use or not was based on that drug's legal status.

Even the DEA website can only find ONE rationale for keeping drugs illegal: They claim that there were more addicts before the law (which was so unconstitutional btw that they chose to make a mockery of the constitution by masking it as a TAX law). Even today, it is IMPOSSIBLE to know the level of addiction; only PROBLEMATIC addiction lends itself to measurement (think in terms of knowing how many alcoholics there are, for example).

There is simply no logic in saying "If it's dangerous, it should be illegal." History has clearly proven that drugs are made MORE dangerous by being made illegal; Society, re drugs, is made MORE dangerous thanks to drugs being illegal. Coercion makes things worse, not better. There is no evidence that it lessens problematic use. There is no evidence that it discourages use. (The few people who don't take something because of 'the law' are likely more than matched by those who DO because of peer pressure to try the 'forbidden fruit'.) How exactly do prisons packed with drug offenders benefit society? How exactly does setting up a mechanism to fund criminal gangs benefit society? When drugs were unregulated, there were no people being killed in the crossfire of gang wars for control of drug turf; there were no thousands of people being massacred in Mexico.

The facts are there: legalization IS safer. The evidence from history is there; the evidence of decriminalization in places like Portugal is there. (Holland made the mistake of half-measures, allowing the Black Market to continue to proliferate.)

First, there should be a massive education campaign on the SPECIFIC dangers of SPECIFIC drugs. (No thank you to those current ads...eg 'this is the pill'...which the kids regard as laughable propaganda.) Then, we should revert to what existed for centuries prior to the last, but with better 'quality control' to prevent contamination with poisons and pathogens...and to reduce the risk of overdose.

It's telling, isn't it that people believe the sky would fall if drugs were no longer illegal, because of how massive a problem drugs have become SINCE THEY WERE CRIMINALIZED? Most people are unaware that drugs were around and unregulated prior to their being criminalized...because they were so UNproblematic that they barely registered in the news or history of the day (The Opium Wars, primarily motivated by colonialist politics, being one exception).

People are deluded if they believe drug laws do anything more than waste money and resources; intrude on personal liberty; bully people who are already 'losers'...to no benefit whatsoever; and have a HUGE negative impact on Society as a whole. To legalize DOES NOT mean to thumbs-up use...eg. cigarettes are legal, but broadly vilified, restricted by bylaws, and the subject of widespread information campaigns to educate...all of which are much more successful than the 'illegal under age 18' rules EVER were. The 'War on Drugs' is a scam perpetrated by the same corporations who are making money hand over fist selling chemicals and supplies to the narcotics industry around the world. DuPont, Bristol-Myers-Squibb, Novartis, etc. Look at all the Pharmaceutical companies on the NYSE and NASDAQ to find out who is profiting from the 'War' on Drugs.

There's no war on drugs, it's a war on people. Guess who is on the Boards of some of these companies - George Bush Sr. Why do you think he pushed his War on Drugs so hard? To make money. The more drugs cost, the more they can sell their chemicals, mixers, supplies for, to these drug lords.

It will be impossible to end the so-called 'War on Drugs' and get things back to normal because the drug industry is intricately linked with governments, armies, and police forces around the world. The rulers of the United States (the Bushes, Rumsfeld, others, some Democrats too) control pharmaceutical companies that supply drug lords. Governments in Central America, Asia, and elsewhere are kept in power by armies that make their money by smuggling and producing drugs. If these governments are non-communist, the United States gives them money to keep them in power - they give money and weapons to the army as well.

Police forces work with gangs in cities (yes, even in Canada). They collect bribes and protect certain gangs from other gangs and competition. The gangs make money selling drugs and give the cops a cut. Nobody ever said cops are smart - sometimes thanks to this protection their partners in crime get too powerful and the cops and the army can't control them any more. As in Mexico.

The corruption permeates our society. The only way to put a stop to all this is to legalize these drugs.

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