The Drugs Do(n’t) Work?

by Mike

How much would we all like to see our name in lights, in the newspapers and on news channels? I’m sure the answer from most will be yes, but in order to do this there is an easier faster way of being heard; be controversial.

Richard Brunstrom, the Chief Constable of North Wales Police, has stated that “Ecstasy is a remarkably safe substance - it’s far safer than aspirin,”

“If you look at the Government’s own research you will find that ecstasy by comparison to many other substances, legal and illegal, is a comparatively safe substance.

“There is a lot of scare-mongering, rumour-mongering, around ecstasy in particular. It isn’t borne out by the evidence.”

Now forgive me, for my knowledge of drugs is not the best, but the amount of things that can make up an ecstasy tablet is astonishing. From just looking a little bit about it on the National Institute of Drug Abuse website the first line it to describe ecstasy or MDMA is that it is a “synthetic, psychoactive drug chemically similar to the stimulant methamphetamine and the hallucinogen mescaline…MDMA is an illegal drug that acts as both a stimulant and psychedelic, producing an energizing effect, as well as distortions in time and perception and enhanced enjoyment from tactile experiences”

It also goes on to say that physical affects include it interfering with the “body’s ability to regulate temperature…this can lead to a sharp increase in body temperature (hyperthermia), resulting in liver, kidney, and cardiovascular system failure, and death.” That sounds a walk in the park to me, I don’t know why I ever questioned Mr Brunstrom’s comments!

Talking up is not “cool and hip” and in all honesty it makes Richard Brunstrom look like a Father who is trying to be “with it”. Maybe this is an olive branch to the teenagers of North Wales, that he understands what they are going through and the 250 ecstasy-related deaths in the UK that have been reported in the Health Statistic Quarterly between 1999 and 2004, won’t really matter because it’s better then “aspirin.”

No matter what you take, too much of just about everything will be bad for you eventually. Drinking, smoking, eating, drugs; they are fall into that category. I’m sure the families that have lost loved ones to drugs, ecstasy in particular, are not exactly jumping for joy at these comments from Mr Brunstrom.

That’s a problem for a lot of people in the spotlight, give someone a platform to speak and no script from which to do it from and they will eventually end up looking foolish. If Brunstrom is getting away with only looking foolish he is lucky; they may be people who have read his comments that are currently experiencing the negative side that drugs have to offer. Happy New Year.

Wednesday, January 2nd, 2008 and is filed under Thoughts & Questions, Views on News.