Olympic Newsdesk - Olympic Ecstasy in Vancouver; Judi Dench says Olympics Hurt Arts

Olympic Drugs Seized

Even drug dealers are trying to make money off the Olympics.

Vancouver police seized 107,000 pills of ecstasy on Wednesday. Imprints of the Olympic Rings and peace signs were on some of the pills.

Police say the ecstasy was worth $950,000 on the street. Police also seized 6 ounces of cocaine worth about $16,143.

Inspector Brad Desmarais said this was one of the five largest drug seizures in Vancouver history. Police discovered the drugs in response to a 911 call.

Judi Dench says Olympics Hurting the Arts

British actress Judi Dench says the government is "siphoning off" money from the arts to pay for the London 2012 Olympics.

Dench, an Oscar winning actress, voiced her concerns about arts funding to the London Times.

"I am concerned that they’ve taken a lot of the subsidy to the arts away for the Olympics. It’s been siphoned off,” she said.

Dench added that she was in a state "mourning" for the arts especially considering the culture of British banks that award bonuses.

“When you go abroad people always talk with such love about British theater, but the irony is that it’s not appreciated by the Government as it should be," Dench said. "The state of the arts has always been, and will always be, precarious. But there is something so alarming about the huge cuts made to companies, particularly when you read of the astronomical amounts some people are earning, like bankers.”

Olympic Champion Announces Retirement Plans

Italian Olympic gold medalist Federica Pellegrini plans to retire after the London Olympics.

Pellegrini, 21, won gold in the 200m freestyle at the Beijing Olympics.

At the Rome championships earlier this year, she won the 200m and 400m freestyle.

Pellegrini said she wants to start a family.

"It will be tough, but I absolutely have to try before closing (my career) at the London Games and starting a family" the swimmer was quoted by Reuters.

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Written by Sam Steinberg.