BC’s top doc calls for more debate on illicit drugs

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VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – BC’s provincial medical health officer says we need to think a little more about legalizing drugs.

Dr. Perry Kendall believes the debate over regulating and selling drugs like Ecstasy, similar to how we sell liquor, would be helpful, but he can’t make the call on his own.

“That would be something that citizens and government would have to look very carefully at,” he says.

Kendall’s comments come after multiple reports quoted him as saying Ecstasy should be legalized and regulated. He says his words were taken out of context during a recent interview.

“I have not said that Ecstasy should be made legal. That’s a gross misrepresentation. I never said that,” he maintains.

“I talked about the possibility of regulatory regime as hypothetical examples. They would range from drugs on prescription to government-controlled outlets with limitations… I think it’s really irresponsible that somebody has gone ahead and taken that and said that I’m promoting the legalization of Ecstasy,” explains Kendall.

He adds parents should not feel the province is advocating the use of illicit drugs.

“If you look at the messaging that we’ve made about street drugs and MDMA, we have said we do not advise anybody to take those drugs,” he maintains

Kendall tells us he does not have a stance on the legalization of the drug.

“I do think that the way we currently regulate illicit drugs does not do what we think it does… So there probably are better ways of handling illicit drugs, but I was not thinking of a particular one or advocating for a particular regime,” he tells us.

A doctor from Harvard, who has researched the drug, has recently published a study showing the drug does nothing to impair a person from functioning normally.

In the past couple of months, five people have died in this province from taking “E” and police warn there is still a tainted batch of the drug on the streets.  There were 16 Ecstasy-related deaths in 2011.

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