Blunkett pushed to reform Ecstasy laws next

Home Secretary's changes to Britain's drug laws welcomed by pharmaceutical firms but charities want him to go further

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The Home Secretary David Blunkett came under pressure from drug charities to follow his reclassification of cannabis with a relaxation of the laws governing Ecstasy.

Drugs charities told Mr Blunkett that Government policies would not be credible in the eyes of the young while Ecstasy remained in the highest category of illegal substances.

More than half a million young people are believed to take Ecstasy every weekend, despite it being ranked as a Class A drug alongside heroin and cocaine.

The charity Drugscope said that 66 per cent of its 900 member bodies – which include drug treatment agencies, police and probation services, re-searchers and academics – wanted Ecstasy to be reclassified as a Class B drug.

Roger Howard, the chief executive of Drugscope, said: "It's the view of drug misuse professionals that the risks of each drug vary significantly." Around 10 people die each year after taking Ecstasy.

The reclassification of Ecstasy and LSD from Class A to Class B was a recommendation in a landmark report on Britain's drug laws produced for the Police Foundation last year. A spokesman for the Police Foundation said yesterday that fewer people died each year from using Ecstasy than taking aspirin.

He said: "It's not nearly as harmful as heroin or cocaine. As a result, it seems to be in the wrong category. It should, more properly, be in a category of substances like amphetamines."

The Police Foundation report also recommended that possession of cannabis be made a non-arrestable offence.

Last February, former Home Secretary Jack Straw rejected all of the report's key recommendations but Mr Blunkett announced on Tuesday afternoon that cannabis possession would become a non-arrestable offence after all.

Mr Blunkett took MPs by surprise when he made his announcement in the relatively low-key setting of the House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee. He reacted angrily yesterday to suggestions that he had "buried" the news.

The disclosure, little over an hour before an historic statement by the IRA on disarmament, prompted suggestions from BBC Radio yesterday that the Home Secretary had been involved in a Government attempt at news management.

Mr Blunkett rejected the accusation. "The idea that I colluded with Gerry Adams or with the IRA so that last week I decided I would deliver this message to the select committee on Tuesday is ridiculous. Frankly, it is time everyone grew up," he said.

Mr Blunkett has a reputation for "trailing" his announcements through leaks to the Sunday newspapers.

The tactic, which he also deployed as Secretary of State for Education, is aimed at placing a positive story at the head of the coming week's news agenda.

Yesterday the Home Secretary told the BBC: "It wasn't leaked, for once. I mean, the first time since I have been in the Home Office something hasn't been leaked on my behalf and then I get criticised for the timing of putting it out."

Oliver Letwin, the Shadow Home Secretary, said Mr Blunkett had "confirmed" that Parliament had taken "second place" when it came to making government announcements.

"He [Mr Blunkett] should now confirm that, in future, announcements will be made to the House of Commons and not leaked in advance," he said.

Press notices were issued to the media before the announcement, which was made to a bona fide Commons committee, but the human rights group Liberty claimed yesterday that Mr Blunkett's revelation amounted to a "smokescreen", diverting attention from the changes to Britain's anti-terrorism laws.

As part of the reforms, Mr Blunkett said he would also recommend the legal use of cannabis for medicinal purposes, subject to clinical trials.