Europe:
British
to
Review
Drug
Classification
Scheme
1/27/06
Just days after deciding not to re-reclassify cannabis as a more dangerous drug, British Home Secretary Charles Clarke announced a government-backed review of the country's entire drug classification system. According to early speculation, a revamping of the system could lead to drugs such as Ecstasy and LSD being treated less harshly and drugs such as the so-called date rape drugs (GHB and Rohypnol) being treated more harshly. Britain currently classifies illegal drugs in three classes -- A, B, and C -- with Class A drugs being the most dangerous and most heavily punished and Class C the least. Currently, Class A drugs include heroin, crack, LSD, psychedelic mushrooms, and Ecstasy, while amphetamines, powder cocaine, and barbiturates are Class B, and tranquilizers and cannabis are Class C. Cannabis had been a Class B drug until 2004, when Clarke's predecessor, David Blunkett moved it to Class C on the recommendation of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD). Clarke told Parliament he thought the current system sent out "mixed signals" about the relative harm of different drugs. He said pondering the cannabis conundrum had made him painfully aware of the arbitrary nature of the classification scheme. Clarke added that he wanted any new classification system to factor in the "social consequences" of each drug, including things like burglaries and muggings. Clarke aides told the Times of London the nature of the review had yet to be finalized, and added that "there was no question of any drug being downgraded." But if a real, evidence-based review of relative drug harms is to occur, downgrades are certain to happen, and Clarke's aides are attempting to protect the government from vociferous foes of any loosening of the current drug laws. Critics on the other side of the drug debate have argued for years that drugs such as mushrooms, LSD and Ecstasy, with little or no addictive potential and low lethality, do not merit the same classification as highly-addictive, crime-generating drugs like crack and heroin. As far back as 2001, the Police Foundation called for Ecstasy to be downgraded and the entire system to be overhauled, a call that was echoed a year later by a Home Affairs Select Committee. Clarke also asked the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs to specifically consider shifting the drugs GHB and Rohypnol from Class C to Class B, based on unproven fears that they are "date rape" drugs. In a study released two weeks ago, the Forensic Science Service found only 2% of a large sample of date rape victims had traces of such drugs. Some 46% had alcohol in their systems.
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