So let me get this straight.
The government uses the Advisory Council on the Misuse of drugs to advise them on … well to advise on the misuse of drugs (and I suppose council them at the same time, just to ensure their name is worthwhile). The head of that agency then says that it’s his advice (to the government) that reclassifying Cannabis from a Class C drug to a Class B drug is a mistake.
The Home Secretary, Alan Johnson, then writes to him telling him he’s being sacked and “I cannot have public confusion between scientific advice and policy and have therefore lost confidence in your ability to advise me as chair of the ACMD.”
I think he’s absolutely right. You can’t have confusion. Therefore when the body you employ to advise you on drugs policy says that they advise you not to reclassify cannabis and then you go ahead and make plans to do … well surely therefore the confusion is caused by the Government’s policy not the advisory agency? If you already have your policy and the advise won’t affect it then why ask for the advice?
It’s almost as if the use of the agency is merely a cover to present policy as nothing more than an unfiltered reflection of scientific data. Hmmm…
