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Experts call for a softer line on killer drug ecstasy
Last updated at 00:52am on 29.11.07
Ecstasy: The killer drug could be downgraded to Class B within months
The killer drug ecstasy could be downgraded to Class B within months - forcing the courts to take a softer line against dealers and users.
A panel of Government experts has been quietly discussing the hugely controversial move for more than a year.
Senior members of the Advisory Council for the Misuse of Drugs want the drug to be downgraded from Class A to B when they pass their verdict next summer.
The revelation risks plunging the Government into a damaging drugs row.
An outcry over the downgrading of cannabis from Class B to C has already prompted a re-think, with Gordon Brown determined to reverse the decision.
But opposition is now likely to open on a second front if ecstasy is downgraded to Class B at the same time as the policy on cannabis is being tightened.
The reclassification of ecstasy - which has killed more than 200 over 15 years - would severely reduce the penalties for taking and using it.
Possession would be cut from a maximum penalty of seven to five years, and dealing would be reduced from a possible life sentence to a maximum of 14 years.
Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said: "It would be outrageous if Gordon Brown, for all his tough talk, accepted any recommendations to declassify ecstasy.
"Ministers should be absolutely clear in warning about the dangers of drugs and classify appropriately.
"Any shirking of their responsibility will betray a whole generation of young people."
Opponents also include Des Delaney, whose 18-year-old daughter Siobhan died after taking a pill on a night out.
He said Home Office advisers were out of touch with reality, and one death from ecstasy was 'one too many'.
The Advisory Council, a Government panel reporting direct to the Home Secretary, has been considering the case for downgrading ecstasy behind closed doors.
Today it will go public with the idea at the first open meeting of the body, which is also reviewing the cannabis laws for Mr Brown.
Hugely influential voices on the committee want ecstasy downgrading, including the Government's main scientific adviser on drugs.
Professor David Nutt argues that ecstasy's presence alongside other hard drugs such as heroin and crack is an 'anomaly'.
Sources said the council decided to review ecstasy's status after a report by Parliament's Science and Technology Committee suggested it caused less harm than other class A drugs.
But separate studies have warned of a long-term danger to users, in addition to the short-term risks of dehydration or the body over-heating.
After today's open session the committee will spend six months compiling a report for the Home Secretary.
Jacqui Smith must then take the politically difficult final decision over whether to accept the drug should be downgraded.
A Home Office spokesman said: "We will consider the Advisory Council's advice carefully, as we do for any advice it provides.
"However, the Government has no intention of reclassifying ecstasy."
Reader views (5)
Also sounding like a broken record, but on average tobacco kills that many people PER DAY! And it is actually addictive, whereas ecstasy is not physically addictive, nor does it turn people into violent criminals...
Like the article says, "Ministers should be absolutely clear in warning about the dangers of drugs and classify appropriately", having ecstasy in the same category as heroin or crack is completely ridiculous.
- Nat, London, UK
"Killer Drug Ecstasy"? I imagine more people have died in the last 15 years from choking on peanuts, yet we see no public outcry for government intervention... Now whilst no one can deny the slight risks involved in taking these drugs, but punishing their possesion with a prison sentence solves nothing. I am absolutely convinced their is no valid argument for keeping this drug classified alongside crack and heroin, whilst completely legal drugs continue to cause infinitely more problems for the rest of us.
- Matt, Burnley, UK
While I am making no attempts to belittle anybody's death, killing 200 people in 15 years is an incredibly small figure when compared to pretty much every other drug- legal or illegal. It would not be betraying anyone to have a more realistic scale of harms linked to drugs.
- Peter, Canterbury, UK
This on the same day we hear a 12 year old boy died playing 'chicken' on a duel carriageway a few hours after taking ecstasy.
Will there ever be common-sense in politics?
- Roz, Chamonix, France
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, how many people does alcohol kill each year, yet the government effectively encourages drinking by relaxing the licensing laws.
There is no clear consistent policy from this government, and whilst it continues to give mixed messages it is not possible to take it seriously. What is needed is a full and complete review of drugs policy, including alchohol and tobacco, objectively assessed independent of the vested interests which allow these 2 substances to continue to flourish; this however is extremely unlikely - sensible adult debate on the dreaded D word seems to be beyond most mainstream politicians.
- Jk, London, UK
