THE ISSUE
Review begins investigating downgrading of ecstasy
Last week the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) began its review of the classification of the drug MDMA, more popularly known as ecstasy. More than 250,000 people are estimated to take the drug in Britain every month, with 54m tablets taken each year. It is currently classified as class A, alongside drugs such as crack cocaine and heroin, which means a conviction for possession can result in a seven-year prison sentence while those who sell the drug can be punished by life imprisonment and an unlimited fine. The council is hearing evidence from experts about the harmful effects of the drug and also the wider social costs of its use. It will make a recommendation to the government early next year.

THE CASE FOR
Research says drug is safer than alcohol
The council is expected to recommend that ecstasy be downgraded to class B on the basis of research by its incoming chairman, Professor David Nutt. He published a report in the medical journal The Lancet that found that the drug is less harmful than alcohol and tobacco. The House of Commons science and technology committee has recommended that the classification of drugs should be based on the harm, both to individuals and society, that they cause. “Let’s treat people as adults, tell them the truth and hopefully work with them to minimise its use,” said Nutt. Professor Colin Blakemore, the former chief executive of the Medical Research Council, said that ecstasy was “at the bottom of the scale of harm”.

THE CASE AGAINST
Critics say long-term effects are unknown
The Home Office and the Association of Chief Police Officers have both advised that the classification of ecstasy should not be revised because there is no “safe dose” of the drug. According to the government’s drug advice service Frank, there have been 200 ecstasy-related deaths since 1996. Critics argue that claims that ecstasy is statistically safer than aspirin are fallacious because of the huge numbers of aspirin taken. Very little is known about the long-term effects of ecstasy because it has been in use for only a short period of time, having become popular in the dance music explosion of the early 1990s. However, a number of studies have suggested that the brain functions of regular users can be diminished.

THE BIGGER PICTURE
Why employ experts if you ignore what they say?
The declaration by Jacqui Smith, the home secretary, that she will not accept a recommendation to reclassify ecstasy has added to concerns about the government’s rejection of expert advice. In May, Smith ignored the advice of the advisory council when she moved cannabis back into class B from C, to which it had been moved four years earlier. Martin Barnes, the chief executive of the charity DrugScope, said: “The message given by this decision is that drugs policy can be driven as much by political considerations, media headlines and scare stories as by the evidence.” Nutt has already said that the system of classification “undermines health education messages” because it is not transparent.

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