SENIOR POLICE OFFICERS HIT OUT AT MOVES TO DOWNGRADE KILLER ECSTASY

Senior police officers are urging a government advisory group to leave
Ecstasy as a class A drug.

The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs is meeting today to
discuss whether the amphetamine should be downgraded to class B.

As part of discussions, panel members will consider a submission from
the Association of Chief Police Officers, stating that transferring
Ecstasy to a lower-classed drug would send out an 'unfortunate
message'.

Presentations will be made from experts on how the drug, also known as
MDMA, affects users.

The advisory council will then use the testimonies to assess whether
Ecstasy remains as harmful as other class A drugs - such as cocaine
and heroin - or whether it should be ranked instead as a class B
substance alongside amphetamines and cannabis.

A final report on the drug is due to be published next
year.

Even then, the decision on whether to reclassify Ecstasy will
ultimately be made by Home Secretary Jacqui Smith.

However the Government's top drugs adviser Professor Sir Michael
Rawlins said Ecstasy could remain a class A substance, even if it is
shown to be safe, because other dangerous chemicals are being mixed
into the pills.

Sir Rawlins, the chairman of the advisory council, said experts would
consider the risk posed by adulterated pills before deciding whether
to downgrade Ecstasy to class B.

Another of the council's most senior members, Professor David Nutt,
has already indicated his support for downgrading the drug.

A Home Office spokesman said: 'Ecstasy can and does kill
unpredictably; there is no such thing as a 'safe dose'.

'The Government firmly believes that Ecstasy should remain a class A
drug.'

A 2006 Science and Technology Committee report found drugs should be
rated purely on the basis of health and social risks and not legal
punishments.

The committee said police saw the classification system as of 'little
importance' at present, and urged ministers to detach penalties from
the harm ranking of drugs.

It said reviews of drug classifications were launched 'as knee-jerk
responses to media storms' and said alcohol and tobacco should be
included in the ratings system.

Ecstasy is the third most popular illegal drug in the UK, and claims
about 50 lives each year.

Earlier this year North Wales Chief Constable Richard Brunstrom
provoked outrage by claiming it was safer than aspirin.