CALL TO SCRAP DRUGS' LINK WITH PENALTY

The system for classifying controlled drugs is based on "ad
hockery and conservatism" and must be scrapped, an influential group
of MPs said last night.

A new scale should be introduced which rates substances purely on the
basis of health and social risks and is not linked to potential
punishments, according to the Science and Technology Committee.

Alcohol and tobacco should also be included in the ratings to give the
public a "better sense of the relative harms involved".

The MPs - including Norwich North MP Dr Ian Gibson - reached their
conclusions in an in-depth report on the classification of drugs.

Currently controlled drugs are put into alphabetical categories which
reflect the level of penalties offences such as possession and dealing
can attract.

The highest class, A, contains substances such as heroin, cocaine,
ecstasy and magic mushrooms, while class B includes speed and
barbiturates, and class C cannabis and some tranquilisers.

The committee said police saw the classification system as of "little
importance" at present, and urged a "decoupling" of penalties and the
harm ranking of drugs.

Dr Gibson told the EDP last night: "I think a lot of drugs are
over-classified and as a result over-penalised."

The report criticised the Government's approach to classifications and
said the system needed to be more "responsive" when new evidence
concerning the risks of particular substances was brought to light,
the report added.

And MPs denounced the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs - which
provides scientific guidance to the government - for "dereliction of
duty" in failing to alert ministers of "serious flaws" in the rating
system.

The chairman of the committee, Phil Willis, said the current
classifications were "riddled with anomalies" and "clearly not fit for
purpose".

He added that there was an urgent need for a root and branch review of
the classification system, as promised by the previous home secretary
and Norwich South MP Charles Clarke.

Mr Willis said other recent issues within the Home Office should not
mean the issue was "kicked into the long grass."

"The only way to get an accurate and up-to-date classification system
is to remove the link with penalties and just focus on harm.

"That must be harm not only to the user but harm defined by the social
consequences as well. It's time to bring in a more systematic and
scientific approach to drug classification. How can we get the message
across to young people if what we are saying is not based on
evidence?"