UK:THE BRITISH government's drug advisers will begin a review of the classification of ecstasy next week, raising the prospect that the drug could be downgraded from class A, making possession and dealing a less serious offence.
Ecstasy remains the third most popular illicit drug in Britain, with 5 per cent of young adults aged 16-24 saying they have used it in the last year.
The decision by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, chaired by Prof Michael Rawlins, to review the legal status of ecstasy follows a report by the House of Commons science and technology committee two years ago recommending urgent action.
The case for downgrading it gathered pace after a Police Foundation inquiry in 2000 argued for it to be moved to class B.
The inquiry found the best estimates of the toxicity of ecstasy suggested it was several thousand times less dangerous than heroin and was probably involved in fewer than 10 deaths a year.
- (Guardian service)