THE UK's chief science adviser has said he agrees with the views of the government's former chief drug adviser, who was sacked after saying many illegal drugs were less dangerous than alcohol and cigarettes.
Professor John Beddington, the UK's chief scientist responsible for scientific advice in government, said: "I think the scientific evidence is absolutely clear-cut. I would agree with it."
Last week, Professor David Nutt, chairman of the Advisory
Council on the Misuse of Drugs, lost his job after saying in a lecture that Ecstasy, LSD and cannabis were less dangerous than alcohol and tobacco, and criticised the decision to upgrade cannabis to a Class-B drug.
But Prof Beddington said Prof Nutt was sacked because of a breakdown of trust with Home Secretary Alan Johnson.
"I think it's very difficult – when clearly trust had broken down between the Home Secretary and Prof Nutt – to see how that could go on," he said.
"We need to make a distinction between scientific advice and evidence, which is the role of experts and scientific committees, and the role of ministers, which is to make policy."
He said he did not believe the sacking highlighted a problem in the way government dealt with scientific advice.
Prof Beddington's comments came as Gordon Brown publicly backed the decision to sack Prof Nutt. The Prime Minister said Prof Nutt's comments gave the impression the government was sending "mixed messages".
Mr Brown said the government could not risk sending out the message that it was acceptable for young people to experiment with cannabis, as this could lead to more people becoming addicted to hard drugs.
He told an audience of police, council workers and the public in east London yesterday: "I think Alan Johnson made the right decision because we cannot send mixed messages.
"Scientific advice is very important and we value it. You can see that with swine flu, with climate change and with all sorts of environmental problems.
"But advisers advise and ministers have to make decisions.
"In the interests of the public, we have to show we are tough on drug dealing and the problems that drugs are causing in our communities."
He added: "We cannot send out a message to young people that it's OK to experiment with drugs and move on to hard drugs. We have to send out a message that it's simply not acceptable.
"The issue here is we did have advice that we should not reclassify cannabis. We did not accept that."
He said Prof Nutt's "consistent disagreement" of opinion undermined the government's message on drugs.
MAKING A STAND• PROFESSOR JOHN BEDDINGTON, CMG, FRS, UK's chief scientific adviser – backed Prof Nutt's views yesterday.
• PROFESSOR DAVID NUTT, MRCP, MRCPsych, FRCPsych, FMedSci, chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs – sacked 30 October.
• DR LES KING, part-time adviser to the Department of Health, senior chemist on ACMD – resigned 1 November from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs. Former head of the Home Office's Drug Intelligence Unit.
• MARION WALKER, clinical director of Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust's substance misuse service, Royal Pharmaceutical Society's representative on ACMD – resigned 1 November from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs.
• LORD WINSTON, FMedSci, FRSA, FRCO, FRCOG, expressed "surprise and disappointment" on 1 November at Prof Nutt's sacking. He is a Labour peer, broadcaster and renowned fertility specialist.
