AFTER the tragic death of Regane McColl last weekend, JOAN argues that legalising drugs such as ecstasy, will only increase the number fatalities.
REGANE McColl’s death was a terrible tragedy, a life full of hope and promise snuffed out because she allegedly swallowed a pretty pill marked with a jolly red dragon. What a waste. Not ecstasy but unimagined agony for her family and friends. Fear too from other parents that tomorrow, next week, next time, it will be their child laid out on a cold mortuary slab.
So what do we do about drugs?
Like many of those taking part in the inevitable phone-ins and online discussions, I too used to argue we should legalise the trade or at least the so-called softer stuff such as hash and, yes, ecstasy. It would, I thought, deliver a double whammy, first by knocking out the dealers and secondly, ensuring the drugs weren’t adulterated and cut with noxious deadly nasties. The kids would know what they were buying and if the government decided to tax it, better that than the local bad men making a mint.
But you know what? I’ve changed my mind. Not because of Regane.
Of course, it was horrible she died as she did – but despite the sound and fury over illegal drugs, they are not our biggest killers. Our most lethal but utterly legal coffin fillers remain good old fags and booze. They do the most damage. On the same night as Regane was rushed into A&E, the stats show that 70 per cent of the others brought in were there as a result of their drinking.
