ECSTASY IS A SAFE DRUG, SAYS POLICE CHIEF

A police chief came under fresh criticism last night after suggesting
that the drug ecstasy is less dangerous than aspirin.

Richard Brunstrom, the chief constable of North Wales, made the claim
as he repeated his call for drugs to be decriminalised.

Mr Brunstrom made a formal submission last year to a Home Office
review advocating the legalisation of illegal drugs, such as heroin
and cocaine. The Government rejected that call, but Mr Brunstrom
yesterday kept up his campaign on the Today programme on BBC Radio 4.

"The prohibition regime does not work. It transfers billions of
pounds of our money into the hands of organised criminals," he said.

"Legalisation and subsequent regulation of proscribed drugs is
inevitable," he added, predicting that the change could come in 10 years' time.

The chief constable said that some illegal drugs were less dangerous
than over-the-counter drugs including aspirin.

He said: "Ecstasy is a remarkably safe substance, far safer than
aspirin. It is far less dangerous than tobacco or alcohol, both of
which are freely available."

There have been more than 200 ecstasy-related deaths in Britain since
1996, according to the Home Office. An article in the British Medical
Journal last year put the risk of death from using the drug as high
as one in 2,000 for first-time users.

Mr Brunstrom won the broad support of his police authority last year
for his views on decriminalisation, but the Government has repeatedly
rebuffed his suggestion.

A Home Office spokesman said yesterday: "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."

He added: "The Government is opposed to the legalisation of drugs
which would increase drug-related harm and break both international
and domestic law."

David Davis, the shadow home secretary, accused Mr Brunstrom of
offering "simplistic and convenient solutions" to drug abuse.

He said: "One reason that the Government's drugs policy has failed in
the past 10 years is because of the confused and ill thought-out
attitudes of both the Government and some senior policemen.

"If you thoughtlessly downgrade cannabis or treat dangerous drugs as
'no worse than aspirin', you make a gift to the drug dealers and
criminals who are destroying the lives of so many young people."

There have been several calls for Mr Brunstrom's resignation. A
petition last year on the Downing Street website that called for him
to quit received more than 3,000 signatures.

Critics have called him "the mad mullah of the traffic Taliban"
because of his enthusiasm for speed cameras and his tough line on speeding.

In November, a police watchdog criticised the way he showed photos of
a decapitated motorcyclist without the permission of the victim's family.

He has also investigated Tony Blair, the former Prime Minister, and
Anne Robinson, the television presenter, for allegedly making
anti-Welsh remarks.

Those inquiries led to nothing, and led to claims that Mr Brunstrom
was misusing police resources.