Merseyside Mum says legalising ecstasy could save lives

Merseyside Mum Hilary Bass lost her son Gary four years ago after he took an ecstasy pill. She thinks it's time the government looked at ways to keep people safe.

Published 4th May 2016

A Merseyside mum who lost her son to ecstasy is calling for the Government to take action after another young death from the drug.

17-year-old Faye Allen from Liverpool collapsed and died at the weekend during a music event in Manchester. Police think the 'Mastercard' pill she took could have contained double the dose it should have done.

Four years ago Hilary Bass's son Gary took a tablet that he thought was ecstasy but it was the killer substance P-M-A.

She worries that young lives are being put at risk because anyone can mix the drugs themselves, saying; 'they're not made in a controlled environment so you can have a batch of tablets, some could have 1mg, 5mg... some could have 1000mg'

Back in 2013 Hilary took part in our 'A Bitter Pill Campaign' to help educate people about the dangers of taking drugs.

Now she thinks it's time for the government to play its part in preventing further tragedies. One of her suggestions is that certain drugs could be legalised, saying 'they've tried it in Holland, it works. You can go into a chemist and they'll test the pill is safe... surely it's better to be safe than sorry'

'You've got the same with alcohol and cigarettes, just because they're legal doesn't mean everybody does it. If people want to take drugs, isn't it better they can take something safe that isn't going to kill them?'