A Canadian doctor flew off the deep end this week when he declared that pure ecstasy was essentially safe.

While many still debate the safety of MDMA, the jury is still out — and there's plenty of anecdotal evidence, including deaths in Los Angeles, the rave capital of the nation, to promote caution.

Dr. Perry Kendall says that it's the adulterated ecstasy that's giving us the problems:

There has been a rash of issues with ecstasy cut with a toxin called PMMA, including 16 deaths tied to the adulterated E in Canada last summer.

However, many of the ecstasy related deaths in the United States, including the 2010 demise of 15-year-old Sasha Rodriguez following Electric Daisy Carnival in Los Angeles and the 2007 death of 20-year-old Michelle Yuenshan Lee after Monster Massive at the L.A. Sports Arena, came at the hands of straight-up ecstasy, medical experts have told us.

To say that it's only adulterated E that's the problem is to mislead young ravers into thinking pure MDMA is always safe. That doesn't seem to be the case. Ecstasy intoxication is a cause of death all its own. Just ask the L.A. coroner's office.

Rave kids work off rumor and innuendo via online discussion boards, where anything but science is spoken. One of the most common things heard about ecstasy is that it's safe so long as it's pure.

Dr. Kendall wants it legalized in Canada. In the meantime, he just gave ravers more disinformation they can use to gamble with their lives.

[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]

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