Northern Ireland Leads UK Ecstasy Use, Despite Punishment Shootings

Northern Irish people consume more ecstasy per head than anywhere else in the UK, Drug Squad chief Judith Gillespie told Radio 1 this week, despite many drug dealers risk shootings from paramilitaries. According to the documentary "The Trouble With Drugs", both loyalist and Republican organisations largely control ecstasy supply lines, routinely shooting dealers who don't pay or are "unauthorised".

The programme prompted leading Observer columnist Sue Arnold to call for legalisation of recreational drugs, to solve the escalating violence, particularly the horrific practise of "six-packing" when dealers are shot 6 times in their ankles, knees and wrists.

"I know of quite a few people who've been shot, including one friend who was shot dead," a former dealer told Radio 1.

http://news.bbc.co.uk
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