Alan Johnson, the Home Secretary, has ordered a swift review of the body at the centre of a row over the Government's drugs policy.

News that the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) will have its functions scrutinised emerged just three days after Mr Johnson sacked the panel's chairman for comments critical of the Government's policy on cannabis.

The Home Secretary attempted to defuse the growing controversy today by insisting that the dismissal of Professor David Nutt, his senior drug adviser, was purely personal.

But the Government was facing the embarrassing prospect of mass resignations today as the remaining 28 members of the ACMD drafted a letter to Mr Johnson suggesting that many were considering their positions.

The letter read: "For some members these matters are of such seriousness as to raise the question whether they can, in good conscience, continue on the council.

“In this situation members wish for clarity and assurances about how the ministers view the council's advice and will view the council's advice in the future."

The Home Secretary agreed to hold a face-to-face meeting with members of the Council today and moved to assuage their fears during a response to an emergency question in the House of Commons.

He said the advisory committee’s work had been “invaluable” to successive governments since it was established in 1971.

Mr Johnson told MPs: “I asked Prof Nutt to resign as my principal drugs adviser not because of the work of the council but because of his failure to recognise that as chair of ACMD his role is to advise rather than criticise Government policy on drugs.”

The Home Office review of the ACMD was set up to “satisfy ministers” that the council is discharging the functions for which it was created almost 40 years ago.

It will look at whether the council's functions represent value for money for the taxpayer, taking into account its future workload and the major issue it will face in the future.

Sir David Omand, a former permanent secretary at the Home Office, is leading the review which is expected to be completed and submitted to Home Office ministers by early next year.

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