On 20 November the ENCOD Steering Committee has sent the following letter to the Members of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs of the European Parliament. We ask you to do the same. The email adresses can be found on the page of the Committee
A new drugs council could be set up to work independently from the Home Office to ensure political freedom for scientists, Professor David Nutt, the Government’s former chief drug adviser, said.
Professor Nutt disclosed he had been approached by a “charitable benefactor” who offered to fund a new committee to explore the issues without external influence.
Prof Nutt was forced to step down from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs by Alan Johnson, by the Home Secretary last month.
Mr Johnson said he had no confidence in Prof Nutt after the adviser criticised the Government’s decision to reclassify cannabis and said many drugs were less dangerous than alcohol and tobacco.
Earlier in the year, the academic garnered controversy when he suggested that taking Ecstasy was less risky than riding a horse.
We are handing one of our biggest industries over to armed, criminal gangs.
By Johann Hari, The Independent
The proponents of the "war on drugs" are well-intentioned people who believe they are saving people from the nightmare of drug addiction and making the world safer. But this self-image has turned into a faith – and like all faiths, it can only be maintained by cultivating a deliberate blindness to the evidence.
The sacking of the Government's chief drugs adviser was an "unnecessary humiliation" and shows that political expediency "rules the roost", a leading scientist who quit over the affair has warned.
By Tom Whitehead, Home Affairs Editor, Telegraph.co.uk
Dr Simon Campbell resigned from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs on Tuesday after Professor David Nutt was forced to step down for criticising Government policy, especially relating to cannabis.
He was one of three advisers to go this week taking the total of those who have resigned in support of Prof Nutt to five.
If there's one thing that most politicians can be relied to do, it's to come over all authoritarian as soon as the word "drugs" is mentioned.
Professor David Nutt found that out to his cost when he published the text of a lecture, given by him in July to an audience that included Home Office representatives, concluding that cannabis is mildly harmful but not nearly as harmful as alcohol or tobacco.
Nutt's evidence is clearly set out in his paper and, frankly, his conclusion is unsurprising.
Alan Johnson is facing serious accusations of misleading MPs when he explained why he had sacked the government's chief advisor on drugs, Professor David Nutt.
He received a letter from Dr Evan Harris, Lib Dem science spokesman, over the weekend, saying he had been made aware of an article and presentation on Prof Nutt's views on drug classification and harm before they occurred.
When the home secretary told MPs about the sacking in the Commons last week, he stressed he was unaware of the paper, published in January, and a speech Prof Nutt then made in King's College London.
Professor David Nutt didn’t play the game. As the chief drug policy advisor in the British Government, an unspoken part of his job description was to help maintain a public fiction about marijuana – or cannabis, as it is known in the U.K. and other parts of the world. Specifically, he was expected to further the misperception of cannabis as a substance worthy of being classified and prohibited in a manner similar to more dangerous drugs like heroin and cocaine.
He made a big mistake at the end of last month. In a lecture at King’s College in London, he spoke honestly – and truthfully – about the fact that cannabis is less harmful than alcohol and urged the government to factor the relative harms of substances into their policy-making. Moreover, he accused the British government of ignoring the evidence about the true harms of cannabis in order to reclassify the drug and increase penalties for possession.
The drugs adviser controversially sacked by the government says he will establish a new scientific committee if the current advisory body disbands.
Professor David Nutt was removed from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs last week after saying cannabis was less harmful than tobacco or drink.
Two other members have resigned, and the rest are to meet the home secretary next week to discuss its future role.
If talks fail, Professor Nutt says he has backing for an independent body.
The man at the heart of the row over the relationship between politics and science appeared relaxed and unrepentant.
Speaking at a briefing of science journalists, Professor David Nutt leant back in his chair and said his only regret was the way the government had treated him.
He stood by his most controversial comments - such as comparing the dangers of ecstasy with horse riding, as he did earlier this year to the consternation of the then home secretary Jacqui Smith.
Asked in retrospect if it was a wise comparison to have made, he thought it was indeed - and that many parents now thought twice about letting their children clamber on to a horse. Read more »
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By. ENCOD
A new drugs council could be set up to work independently from the Home Office to ensure political freedom for scientists, Professor David Nutt, the Government’s former chief drug adviser, said.
The sacking of the Government's chief drugs adviser was an "unnecessary humiliation" and shows that political expediency "rules the roost", a leading scientist who quit over the affair has warned.
by Liz Davies, Morning Star
By Steve Fox, AlterNet
The drugs adviser controversially sacked by the government says he will establish a new scientific committee if the current advisory body disbands. 
By Clare Murphy 
