EXPERT QUITS TO SINK BAN ON MEOW MEOW

Plans to outlaw the drug meow meow were in disarray today after the
resignation of a senior government adviser.

Moves to outlaw mephedrone, the chemical name for the drug which is
said to deliver a so-called 'legal high' and has been linked to at
least six deaths, could be delayed for months by the latest twist in
a long-running row between academics and politicians. Ministers had
hoped to announce the ban today.

But the shock departure of Polly Taylor from the Advisory Council on
the Misuse of Drugs leaves the Government powerless to update its
drugs policy until she is replaced.

Dr Taylor's resignation is the latest in an ongoing battle over the
relationship between the Government and its scientific advisers.

Five members of the ACMD resigned at the end of last year, in protest
at the sacking of the panel's head, David Nutt.

The professor caused outrage by saying Ecstasy was no more dangerous
than 'riding a horse' but the scientific establishment supported him,
stating independent government advisers must have the freedom to give
their advice without fear of reprisal. The latest resignation is
timed to cause maximum embarrassment to the Government.

It comes hours before the ACMD was due to announce its decision on
the classification of mephedrone, paving the way for a law to be rushed in.

But the law states the Government cannot reclassify a drug without
consulting a 'properly constituted' ACMD - one which has a vet among
its members

The departure of Cambridge-educated Dr Taylor, the panel's sole vet,
leaves the Government powerless to act, until she is replaced.

The legal process leading to the banning of the drug was already
expected to take at least three months. It could now take significantly longer.

In a letter to Home Secretary Alan Johnson, Dr Taylor, a freelance
consultant in veterinary anaesthesia, said her resignation could be
traced back to the sacking of Professor Nutt.

She said in the months following the professor's departure, the
Government had failed to give its advisers the independence they deserve.

In particular, a new code of conduct for its advisers fails to
provide a guarantee that they can disagree with Government policy
without fear of reprisal.

Calling for climate of 'mutual trust', Dr Taylor said: 'I feel there
is little more we can do to describe the importance of ensuring that
advice is not subjected to a desire to please ministers or the mood
of the day's Press.'

On meow meow, Gordon Brown has said the Government is 'determined to
act to prevent this evil hurting the young people of the country'.

Lib Dem science spokesman Dr Evan Harris said the Government had
'shot itself in the foot'.

'They were warned repeatedly by me and major scientific organisations
that unless they pledged to allow their unpaid independent scientists
the freedom and independence to give their advice without fear of
reprisal by politicians they would face more resignations.

'Scientists are simply not prepared to be treated like Professor
David Nutt was.

'If it is necessary to act urgently to ban mephedrone then, by
provoking this resignation by their refusal to respect the scientists
who offer advice, the Home Secretary will now be forced to wait a
delay while the Council is properly constituted.

'This episodes tells us what we should have learned from the BSE
disaster - if we treat scientists badly, then the Government wont get
good advice and everyone suffers.'