Committe demands revision of drug laws

17 August 2007

The A, B, C drug classification system is “not fit for purpose”, says the Science and Technology Select Committee.

The Committee held a session in Westminster Hall to debate its 2006 report Drug Classification: Making a hash of it?

Chair of the Committee Phil Willis believes that the public’s view that “the classification system is so linked to the criminal justice system that to decouple the two would cause irreparable harm to [the government’s] fight against drugs” is hindering the revision of current drug legislation.

Similarly, Tory party member Edward Garnier presented a new policy to the Committee, whereby addicts will be sent for rehabilitation and not to prison. He said: “If people are in prison for only one, two, three or four months and are then released back on to the streets of London, it is hardly surprising that they resort to the class A drug habit that may have put them in prison in the first place.

However, Information Officer for drug charity Transform, Steve Rolles believes the debate was a “restatement of existing positions” and no new ground was covered.

The Select Committee on Science and Technology was set up by the House of Lords and directs its recommendations to the government.