‘My sons would still be here if ecstasy was regulated’ Would legalising ecstasy save lives?

BEREAVED DAD:

espite the horrific D tragedy of losing his two sons to ecstasy in 2014, Ray Lakeman, 66, controversially believes that legalising the drug could help to avoid further deaths.

Ray – who’s from the Isle of Man and married to the boys’ mother, Sarah, 52, a teacher – says: “If I thought that by telling people ecstasy killed my two boys it’d be enough to stop them using it, I’d spend my life travelling around schools doing that. But it doesn’t work. Young people will always want to experiment with drugs, so we need a safer approach. I believe the drug needs to be regulated and sold in exact doses.

“My boys bought ecstasy on the internet and had six times the lethal dose in their systems. I believe that if the drug was regulated they’d still be here.”

The pain of losing his two sons, Jacques, 20, and Torin, 19,

TERRIBLE FEELING

Last week, three 12-year-old girls, including Lacy hall (left), were hospitalised after taking a type of ecstasy described as “teddy bear tablets.” and in a separate incident last month, a 17-year-old girl died after taking a type of the drug known as “mastercard.”

alarmingly, ecstasy use is on the rise. recent statistics from the is clearly still raw for Ray.

He says: “They were very close and always looked out for each other. They were intelligent, sporty and had everything to live for. They’d had completely ordinary upbringings and loved sailing and music. Jacques had rebelled a bit as a teenager, dabbling in drink and soft drugs, but it felt like normal teenage behaviour. We thought a lot of it was alcohol-related so we made sure there was no drink at home.

“Of course, we discussed the dangers of drugs with him, and Torin seemed to be anti-drugs.” But in November 2014 both boys went away to Manchester to watch a football match. By then Jacques had moved to London and was living with his grandmother while training to be a chef. And Torin was in his second year at Aberystwyth University studying physics. 2016 european drug report show that 2.1m people in europe aged 15-34 used ecstasy in the last year; 300,000 more than in 2015.

here, ray Lakeman – who lost his sons Jacques, 20, and torin, 19, to the class a drug in 2014 – tells Closer that he believes legalising ecstasy could prevent more tragedies…