Addicts consulted on drugs fight

The Home Office said users would be asked to take part in focus groups and other exercises planned by market research company Ipsos Mori.

The polls have been commissioned by the Home Office to ask people how the harm done to society by illegal drugs can be cut further, as part of a consultation on a new drugs strategy.

Ipsos Mori will also carry out focus groups, workshops and other events with ordinary members of the public and people working in the drugs and criminal justice sectors, a Home Office spokesman said.

He refused to confirm the amount of taxpayers' money being spent on the exercise and was also unable to say whether addicts would receive any incentives for taking part in the exercises.

More than 200,000 consultation leaflets will be distributed to police stations, GPs surgeries, libraries and other public places as part of the programme.

People will be asked whether cannabis should be reclassified as a Class B drug - reintroducing tougher penalties - following Prime Minister Gordon Brown's announcement last week that he had asked for a review of the decision to downgrade the drug in 2004.

As part of the package Home Secretary Jacqui Smith announced £5.65 million for the Government's Frank drug information campaign.

The drug strategy applies mainly to England and Wales, but some aspects such as drug classification cover the whole of the UK.