VICTIM'S FATHER FRONTS ECSTASY CAMPAIGN

The father of a student who died after taking ecstasy is to spearhead
a poster campaign highlighting the risks of the drug. Alan Spinks,
whose daughter Lorna, 19, died in Cambridge in May, said he wanted to
make young people aware of the dangers of the drugs.

He said he was particularly keen to do so in the light of government
moves to relax drug laws.

The poster, which shows a series of ecstasy tablets below the
catchline "Which One is the Killer?" is expected to appear on
billboards around the UK in coming weeks.

The poster campaign is being organised by a London-based advertising agency.

Mr Spinks said he and other bereaved families and activists were
"trying to warn of the danger that is undermining the country's next
generation".

"Since the authorities take such a soft line, the impetus for making
users aware of the risks must come from elsewhere," he said.

Class A Drug

The government recently announced that people found in possession of
small amounts of cannabis would not be prosecuted in future.

There have also been suggestions that some government officials and
senior police officers would like to take a softer line on ecstasy
users.

On Friday a Liberal Democrat party policy working group called for
ecstasy to be reclassified from the class A list of the most harmful
drugs, to class B.

The Runciman report for the Police Foundation has also recommended
that change, although the government has rejected the idea.

It is estimated that half a million people in the UK take ecstasy each week.

About eight people a year have been killed by the drug since the late 1980s.

But the chances of long-term damage are thought to be much higher.

The health dangers are still being established by the medical
profession, but its main risk is understood to be brain damage
leading to psychiatric disorders such as depression, anxiety and
panic attacks.

Ms Spinks, a student at Anglia Polytechnic University in Cambridge,
died after taking two ecstasy pills, described by police as
"exceptionally high strength", at a nightclub.

The post-mortem said she had died of ecstasy poisoning, which had
thinned her blood so that she suffered internal bleeding and
ultimately heart failure.

Lorna's parents released a photograph of their daughter's dead body
in a hospital bed to serve as a warning to other youngsters thinking
of taking the drug.

The photograph showed Lorna's swollen face with one eye half-open and
tubes sticking out of her nose and mouth.