Overhaul of drugs to put ecstasy in heroin class

Scotsman.com

BRITISH drugs laws are to be overhauled for the first time in a generation after Charles Clarke decided a new system is needed to grade ecstasy pills and date-rape drugs.

The Home Secretary said yesterday that he had decided against upgrading cannabis but would instead take a fresh view at the system which places the dance drug ecstasy in the same category as heroin.

Considering the problem of cannabis, he said, had made him realise how arcane Britain's drugs laws are - and that they are ripe for an outright overhaul.

The laws will apply on both sides of the Border and the review was last night welcomed by the Scottish Drugs Enforcement Agency.

At present, drugs are put into three classes - A, B and C. But police have long believed that the system has failed properly to distinguish the levels of harm.

Since Labour came to power, the cost of all drugs has plunged. The price of cannabis has fallen 19 per cent and ecstasy 68 per cent.