State may examine Britain’s calls for ecstasy downgrade

AN OFFICIAL report in Britain calling for ecstasy to be downgraded to a class B drug may be examined here by the Government’s expert body on drugs.

The Advisory Council of the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) in Britain concluded that ecstasy was less harmful than most other class A drugs, namely heroin and cocaine.

The ACMD said MDMA, the chemical name for ecstasy, should be reclassified as a class B drug, joining other drugs such as amphetamines, barbiturates and codeine.

The recommendation was immediately rejected by the British government, sparking public disagreement between it and the ACMD, which is the government’s official advisers.

The ACMD’s review of the harms of MDMA, published on Wednesday, found that deaths from the drug were “relatively rare” given the scale of its use and particularly in comparison with cocaine and heroin.

The advisory body said there should be a special emphasis on advising young people who are taking the drug on how to minimise the harms from it.

It said ecstasy was solely responsible for, on average, 17 deaths per year in Britain between 1993 and 2006 and involved, in some way, in a further 33 deaths per year.

It said it was “particularly difficult” to estimate the risk of death. In Britain, drugs are classified in three categories: class A are the most harmful drugs, class B lists those with intermediate harm and class C are those deemed less harmful.

Ireland does not have such a classification system. The only legal distinction here concerns penalties for possession of cannabis compared with other drugs.

The National Advisory Committee on Drugs (NACD) is Ireland’s equivalent of the ACMD.

NACD chairman Dr Des Corrigan said he was not yet in a position to comment on the report, but said it may be examined by the body. “It is something that could be examined in the context of the new drugs strategy and our new work strategy, but I’m not in a position to comment any further because I haven’t seen it.”

The new national drugs strategy is due to be published around April.

Ecstasy has been overtaken by cocaine in recent years as the second most popular illegal drug in Ireland. Garda figures show that ecstasy seizures have fallen from a peak of 1.3 million tablets in 2003, to 119,000 in 2007.

But they have increased since then, to about 200,000 tablets last year and 150,000 already this year.

The National Drug-Related Deaths Index shows that between 1998 and 2005 ecstasy was involved, either with other drugs or on its own, in 69 poisonings, or about nine deaths per year.

The Dublin County Coroner said ecstasy was involved in five deaths in 2007.

Read the ACMD report on www.homeoffice.gov.uk