Splicetoday

Pop Culture
Feb 20, 2009, 11:58AM

Here's a thought experiment for your weekend

Say you have to give a stranger a peanut or a hit of ecstasy. Which is safer?

Ecstacy, of course. Via Hit & Run, food for thought:

This, of course, is only a thought experiment; nobody would consider doing it for real. But it puts the risks associated with ecstasy in context with others we take for granted. Yes, ecstasy is dangerous and people who take it are putting their lives on the line. But the danger needs to be put in perspective.

Sadly, perspective is something that is generally lacking in the long and tortuous debate over illegal drugs. In this magazine, we have argued that drug policy should be made on the basis of evidence of harmfulness - to individuals and to society. The British government's stated line is similar, yet time and again it ignores its own rules and the recommendations of its experts. Most other western governments act in a similar way.

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