ROW OVER CLASS A DRUG

Ministers reiterated their opposition to downgrading ecstasy today amid
claims Government advisers will recommend it be made a class B drug.

The Advisory Council for the Misuse of Drugs could urge Home Secretary
Jacqui Smith to move the dance drug from class A when it reports later
this month.

Ecstasy use is linked to around 30 deaths a year, up from 10 a year in the
early 1990s. Fatalities are caused by massive organ failure from
overheating or the effects of drinking too much water.

A Home Office spokesman said the department was committed to the drug
remaining in class A.

"Ecstasy can and does kill unpredictably; there is no such thing as a safe
dose," he said.

"The Government firmly believes that ecstasy should remain a class A drug.

"The Home Office has not requested that the ACMD review the classification
of ecstasy (MDMA).

"It is doing so at the request of the Science and Technology Committee and
has yet to present its findings to the Home Office."

The ACMD's chairman, Professor David Nutt, has suggested ecstasy is less
dangerous than alcohol or tobacco and "probably shouldn't be" in class A.

Last year, the ACMD said cannabis should remain in class C based on health
risks, but its views were rejected by government ministers.

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

The MPs also said alcohol and tobacco should be included in the rating
system.

Downgrading would mean lesser sentences for dealers, who currently face up
to life in prison.