Prof Nutt launches rival drugs committee

David Nutt, the scientist sacked as a government adviser by the home secretary, today defiantly launched his own independent committee which he says will provide the definitive scientific verdict on the risks of drugs.

Nutt said his committee was willing to give advice to the government's Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), from which he was sacked as chair.

He was dismissed from the post after criticising politicians for distorting research evidence and claiming alcohol and tobacco were more harmful than some illegal drugs, including LSD, ecstasy and cannabis.

The new committee -- called the Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs (ISCD) -- includes a number of big names in the field and has the potential to embarrass the government, due to its determination to make public the evidence on the relative risks and harms of drugs without regard to political sensitivities.

Nutt portrayed the ACMD as something of a lame duck scientifically, following the resignations of five of its members in sympathy with him -- four of whom have joined the ISCD. "It is a body made up of drug treatment people, police and magistrates," he said.

Thanks to Mr. Tumnus!