Pubdate: Fri,  6 Dec 2002
Source: Guardian, The (UK)
Copyright: 2002 Guardian Newspapers Limited
Contact:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/guardian/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/175
Author: Lucy Ward, political correspondent
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy)

LAW AN ASS ON ECSTASY, SAYS EX-MINISTER

Ecstasy should be reclassified from class A to B, according to the chairman
of the Commons home affairs committee, who yesterday claimed that the law on
the drug "is an ass".

Chris Mullin, a former Home Office minister, said scientific evidence showed
ecstasy was not as harmful as heroin and crack cocaine, which share its
legal classification. Despite its ranking, it was often "dabbled" in by
youngsters who shared drugs, he told MPs during a debate on government drugs
policy.

Mr Mullin called for the changes, which the government rejects on the
grounds that the long term health consequences of using ecstasy are unclear,
days after the home secretary David Blunkett launched an updated national
drugs strategy.

His announcement confirmed that 1998 government targets to slash levels of
class A drug abuse have been scrapped, and promised a new approach under
which offenders testing positive for hard drugs would be given the choice of
treatment or prison.

Mr Mullin was backed by former Tory cabinet minister Peter Lilley and by Lib
Dem home affairs spokesman Simon Hughes in his call for the reclassification
of ecstasy.

He told MPs: "Half of all young people at some stage dabble in drugs. I am
in no doubt that drugs need to be categorised according to the degree of
harmfulness and as far as ecstasy is concerned ... the science is clear." On
ecstasy, he said "at present the law is an ass".

The government's new strategy will focus on tackling the 250,000 hard drug
users who account for 99% of the costs of drug crime in England and Wales,
and see an extra UKP500m pumped into the drugs budget by 2005-2006 - an
increase of 44%.

However, while the Conservatives are developing a drugs policy similarly
based around compulsory treatment, the party yesterday criticised the
government for ditching the widely-criticised anti-drugs targets set by the
former drugs czar Keith Hellawell four years ago.

Anti drugs coordination minister Bob Ainsworth said the government had not
been able to agree to the reclassification of ecstasy as the long-term
health consequences of using the drug were still unclear. "People do die as
a result of taking ecstasy," he added.

He insisted the government had not retreated from or abandoned targets set
out in the 10-year plan to combat drug use but had "refocused" the strategy
on what was needed and what worked.
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