A controversial police chief is facing calls to quit after claiming Ecstasy is safer than aspirin.
Anti-drugs campaigners condemned the comments by Richard Brunstrom, the chief constable of North Wales Police, who advocates the legalisation of all drugs.
Challenged about the dangers of drugs such as Ecstasy, he said that Government evidence demonstrated it is actually safer than many legally-available substances.
"Ecstasy is a remarkably safe substance - it's far safer than aspirin," he said. "It's easy to find people on both sides of what is really a very heated debate at the moment, I think.
"But if you look at the Government's own research you will find that Ecstasy by comparison to many other substances, legal and illegal, is a comparatively safe substance.
"There is a lot of scare-mongering, rumour-mongering around Ecstasy in particular. It isn't borne out by the evidence. Ecstasy is not a safe substance and I'm not suggesting that it is.
"But it's much less dangerous than for instance, tobacco and alcohol, both of which are freely available."
Mr Brunstrom, who has faced criticism from the Association of Chief Police Officers over his stance on drugs, said that prohibition did not work.
But Peter Stoker, of the National Drugs Prevention Alliance, said: "Mr Brunstrom should resign. His comments are increasingly incompatible with his position.
"The danger from illegal drugs isn't just a question of how poisonous it is in the short-term - although any dose of ecstasy can kill - it includes the damaging behaviour which people are sucked into and the harm it does to those around them, particularly their families."
