Drugs talk by sacked chief adviser

Adam Hewitt • Published 15 Jan 2010 15:00 8 Comments

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THE scientific adviser sacked by the Government for criticising its drugs policy is giving a free talk in Reading later this month.

Professor David Nutt, former head of the government's Advisory Committee on the Misuse of Drugs, is making one of his first public appearances since being given the boot by Home Secretary Alan Johnson in October.

Prof Nutt today (Friday) unveiled a 'politically neutral' and independent group of policy advisers and scientists giving advice on the relative harm each drug is known to cause. He said the Independent Council on Drug Harms would do a better job than the official ACMD, from which five other scientists resigned when he was sacked.

Prof Nutt is speaking at the Palmer Building at Reading University's Whiteknights campus on Monday, January 25 from 7.30-9pm. There will be a Q&A afterwards and all are welcome at the free event, organised by the university's Lib Dem group.

For details visit: www.readingliberalyouth.com

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Newt Chaser
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Jan 16, 02:29
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The law on drugs is based on politics and not real facts and is a farce, someone's gotta fix it.

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Samuel
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Jan 16, 17:44
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Never going to happen while there's an election on! The Tories are obviously going to take a "tough" line regardless of science or common sense, and Labour are too terrified of the tabloids to do the right thing on drugs reform. The Lib Dems are probably on the right track but won't be in a position to do anything about it - even if they somehow ever got power they wouldn't waste political capital on picking a fight with Middle England over a sensible drugs policy. We let people play rugby, having boxing matches and smoke tobacco - yet we're not allowed to choose to put cannabis or ecstasy into our bodies. The most rampantly addictive drugs need more care, but the majority should be legalised and regulated, but not criminalised.

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Howard Thomas
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Jan 17, 16:37
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Samuel.....if cannabis was legalised then perhaps it should only be sold to people who had taken out a health insurance policy to cater for the medical care and state aid that is made all the more likely by taking the skunk form of the drug !

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Singh
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Jan 17, 21:20
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i will definitley be attending! much publicised and mucho interesting. Spread the word. I will see you all on the 25th. You have my vote lib dem

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Samuel
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Jan 17, 22:48
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howard - if it was legalised and could be taxed, then as with tobacco maybe the costs to the health service (absolutely miniscule compared with cigarettes, by the way) could be covered that way. At the moment all that money goes to seedy dealers and criminal gangs.

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pajamapaati
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Jan 23, 23:23
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The issue is not how harmful/harmless cannabis, ecstasy or whatever is, but whether government drugs policy should be based on

(a) factual evidence about how their policy affects harm done to society related to drug usern(b) political expediency and/or personal prejudices of politicians

(c) pretending to be based on evidence but actually based on expediency & prejudicern(a) is good, (b) is at least honest, (c) is hypocrytical.

Present gov't policy is (c).

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pajamapaati
Unregistered User
Jan 28, 08:38
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The issue is not how harmful/harmless cannabis, ecstasy or whatever is, but whether government drugs policy should be based on

(a) factual evidence about how their policy affects harm done to society related to drug usern(b) political expediency and/or personal prejudices of politicians

(c) pretending to be based on evidence but actually based on expediency & prejudicern(a) is good, (b) is at least honest, (c) is hypocrytical.

Present gov't policy is (c).

Recommend? Yes 0 No 0
Voodoo Chicken
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Jun 26, 13:35
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Bring back the death sentence and hang anyone found in possession. That should sort it.

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