DRUG ADVISER DENIES DEALING IN COCAINE

An academic who advises the government on drugs last night strenuously
denied newspaper allegations that he was a cocaine dealer.

Neil Montgomery, who has given evidence to the House of Lords science and
technology select committee on the use of the drug, was alleged to have
supplied cocaine and cannabis to News of the World undercover reporters at
an Edinburgh hotel.

Mr Montgomery, 41, who is studying for a doctorate in cannabis and the law
at Edinburgh University, has done research on cannabis and is a special
scientific adviser to the Medicinal Cannabis Research Foundation, the only
UK registered charity dedicated to studying the medicinal use of cannabis.
He also acts as an adviser for GW Pharmaceuticals, the only drug research
company licensed to grow cannabis in the UK.

Mr Montgomery has testified as an expert witness in 180 prosecutions of
people who use cannabis for therapeutic purposes and has advocated
decriminalisation of the drug.

The News of the World claimed Mr Montgomery and a friend met their
reporters, who were posing as wealthy drug users, at the hotel. Mr
Montgomery is alleged to have offered to supply cocaine at UKP50 a gram and
produced cannabis which he said would cost UKP20 for an eighth of an ounce.
In a separate encounter, the newspaper alleged he brought cannabis resin,
marijuana and cocaine for the reporters.

Mr Montgomery said: "I'm disappointed that what could have been an exciting
development in the provision of cannabis-based medicines in the Indian
subcontinent turned out to be a rather unpleasant attempt at entrapment.

"The article, which is peppered with falsehoods, is a pantomime. Everyone
that knows me is aware of my views on our drug laws and how they should
develop. They also know I am not a coke dealer."