Drugs group may downgrade ecstasy

The Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, meeting this afternoon, may call for ecstasy to be downgraded, reclassified as a Class B drug rather than a Class A.

The body's chairman, Professor David Nutt, has previously said that the drug "probably shouldn't be" classified alongside heroin as Class A. However, if the suggestion is made, it will prove controversial. Some psychologists fear it is deeply harmful to users.

Shadow Home Secretary, Dominic Grieve, said: "Drugs wreck lives and destroy communities. The harm they do to the health of our young people and the amount of crime they create is immense. We see no evidence to declassify this drug."