DOWNGRADE ECSTASY, DRUG EXPERT TELLS MPS

Ecstasy and LSD, which are believed to be used by half a million
youngsters every week, should be downgraded from class A drugs, the
government's drug adviser recommended yesterday. Professor David Nutt,
who sits on the advisory council on the misuse of drugs, said that
ranking ecstasy and LSD alongside heroin and cocaine was "an anomaly",
and an official review of their status was under way.

A decision to move ecstasy and LSD from class A to class B would mean
that the maximum penalty for possession would fall from seven years to
five years, and that for dealing from life imprisonment to 14 years.
In practice the average penalties would be similar to those imposed
for cannabis before it was reclassified 18 months ago.

But Prof Nutt told the parliamentary science and technology committee
that he thought barbiturates could be "worth moving up to class A".
His comments came after MPs and peers asked him which drugs he thought
were wrongly classified.

The review into the legal status of ecstasy is to examine whether more
could be done to reduce the harm caused by a drug which is believed to
have been used by 10% of Britons aged 18 to 24.

The drugs minister, Vernon Coaker, said he would examine any
recommendation put forward by the advisory council for the misuse of
drugs, but stressed that a decision would be a matter of political
judgment. The shadow home secretary, David Davis, said downgrading
ecstasy would send out the wrong message.

The idea of downgrading ecstasy was first put forward by the Police
Foundation inquiry into the future of drugs policy.