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Drug Classification

The hon. Gentleman keeps returning to the issue of ecstasy. I have said that the ACMD will consider ecstasy. We set out how the ACMD comes to its view about whether a drug should be in class A, B or C on page 16 of our response to the report and laid out the various factors that the ACMD takes into account. We always listen carefully. In fact, from memory, I think that we have never disagreed with any recommendation that the ACMD has made to us. We shall have to wait and see what happens when the ACMD makes a recommendation. The hon. Gentleman seems to be presuming that it will recommend changing the classification, but we shall wait and see what happens. I look forward to him welcoming the ACMD report, should it make such a recommendation. I want to give the hon. Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough a couple of minutes to respond to the debate, but I have a few other remarks to make first. The Government maintain that the classification system has stood the test of time and that it continues to discharge its function fully and effectively. Its single purpose is to provide a legal framework in which criminal penalties are set by reference to the harmfulness of a drug to the individual and to society, and to the type of illegal activity undertaken. The criminal justice system expects a stable and enduring system and the Government must provide that. The classification of any drug must be a reliable fact of law, which was a point made by the hon. and learned Member for Harborough. Our tripartite classification system allows clear and meaningful distinctions to be made between drugs. Its familiarity and brand recognition should not be dismissed. In deciding not to pursue a review of the classification system, the Government took two key factors into consideration. First, there is no optimum system of control, or even a system of structuring drug harm classifications, that is obviously better than the present one. That was the conclusion of the Police Foundation report and it remains as true today as it was in 2000, when that report was published. Secondly, it is the job of the Government to identify and set the priorities that will have the most impact on achieving our shared aim of reducing the harm caused by drugs. There is no evidence to show that a change in the way in which we classify drugs would contribute to that aim. Indeed, the evidence supports the position that we set out in our response: the drugs strategy as a whole is having the real impact on the harm caused by drug misuse to individuals, their families and communities. Such harm is beginning to reduce. Overall drug misuse has fallen by 16 per cent. since 1998, while the misuse of class A drugs has stabilised. Drug misuse among young people has fallen by more than a fifth in the past 10 years. Since the onset of the drug interventions programme, recorded acquisitive crime, to which drug-related crime makes a significant contribution, has fallen by 20 per cent. More and more people are entering and staying in treatment. Nearly four fifths of the 181,000 people who have undergone drug treatment programmes in the past financial year completed their programmes. As a Minister with responsibility for drugs, I want to know what constitutes the successful completion of a drug treatment programme. Indeed, I would ask that important question of all of us because it is a crucial issue. It is possible to make the situation look very good, but we need to understand what is meant by the successful completion of a drug treatment programme. Although the classification system has a necessary part to play in our drugs strategy, it is not the most important part. That is not just the Government’s view because it has become increasingly clear to me that that view is shared by many, although not all, professionals and service users involved in drug treatment. At the many stakeholder events in which I have participated throughout the country, I do not remember having once been asked about the classification system as a whole, although I have been asked about the classification of an individual drug. Our judgment is that the delivery of the drugs strategy as a whole must be our priority. Prioritising our resources in that way to achieve the greatest impact will be the key to our continued success. As we have seen this afternoon, there will always be lively debate and disagreement about whether certain drugs are in the right category of the ABC system. The Government agree that, as far as possible, individual classifications should be evidence-based. We rely on the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, which is an expert and respected independent body, to provide us with advice that is based on its assessment of the evidence of the harm caused by a drug to the individual and to society. That advice constitutes the most significant input into any classification decision, and it is noteworthy that in the 10 years of the present Government, we have accepted all the ACMD’s recommendations on classification. We recognised from the Select Committee report that we needed to build our evidence base. In particular, the Committee called on the Government to gather evidence on the deterrent effect to which we refer. I can tell the hon. Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough that we have done some scoping work on that and we are considering how we can take it forward. I shall rush through some of the other points that were made. The Government recognise the harm caused to individuals by alcohol and tobacco, and we have policies outside the classification system that deal with alcohol and tobacco. The hon. Gentleman and other members of the Committee in the Chamber will have seen the new alcohol strategy that the Government published last week called ““Safe. Sensible. Social. The next steps in the National Alcohol Strategy””. I can say for the benefit of everyone that we will consult shortly on a new drugs strategy. We expect the consultation document to be published in the next few weeks and that will lead to a revised drugs strategy to commence in April 2008. We know that all hon. Members in the Chamber will participate in the development of the new drugs strategy. I will welcome the hon. and learned Member for Harborough to that process. I agree with his comment that when we can collaborate, we should do so. In developing the strategy, we shall not forget the contribution that the Committee chaired by the hon. Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough makes and the ongoing work that we need to do to take into account of its recommendations. May I say to my hon. Friends the Members for Newport, West and for Bolton, South-East that although I do not agree with some of the points that they made, I do not dismiss them? Just because someone says something with which we do not agree, it does not mean that we should not let them challenge our views. If we allow them to challenge our views, we move further along the road of having the public policy that we all want: one that reduces the harm in our communities caused by the use of illegal and legal drugs.