ECSTASY SOMEWHAT LEGALIZED IN SWITZERLAND

You must have heard by now: The Supreme Court of Switzerland has ruled that Ecstasy is in the same class (B), legally, as marijuana. While the Court emphasized that they didn't think Ecstasy was harmless, they did hold that it was not "a serious threat to its users' health, either mentally or physically."

Good for you, Swiss judges. You understand that though many legal substances are harmful in some way, especially when consumed in excess-- cigarettes, bacon, chocolate-- they also often confer benefits, chief among which is sensual pleasure. Ecstasy is even more beneficial than that: It seems to liberate people from their industrially-formulated emotional straightjackets-- a factor to be factored into any human equation. One civilization's most serious threats, after all, is unfriendliness....