Alarmingly, ecstasy use is surging – recent statistics from the 2016 European Drug Report show 2.1 million people aged 15-34 in Europe have used ecstasy in the last year, 300,000 higher than 2015. And the UK has the second highest level of use of the drug in Europe.
Ray Lakeman, who in November 2014 lost both of his sons Jacques, 20, and Torin, 19, after they took the Class A drug together, controversially tells Closer that only legalising the drug could stop more tragedies.
He says: “If I thought that just by telling people ecstasy killed my two boys that would stop them using it, I’d spend my life travelling round 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 system.
"I believe if the drug was regulated they’d still be here today.”
For more information on how drugs affect families, visit Anyone's Child.
Read the rest of this story in Closer mag, out today.