Letter: Dangerous game

Sir: I was bemused by George Howarth's statement (Letters, 28 June) that "taking an Ecstasy tablet is like playing Russian roulette". Little could be farther from the truth.

The chance of dying in Russian roulette is easily estimated at around one in six. The equivalent figure for taking an Ecstasy tablet is harder to obtain, but using reasonable estimates for the number of tablets consumed each year in the UK (say, 25 million) and the number of deaths each year (about six) an estimate of one in 4 million cannot be too far from the truth. Most of us regularly engage in leisure activities far more risky than this.

JONATHAN JONES

Oxford