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British government sacks drugs advisor over cannabis comments
Oct 31, 2009, 12:10 GMT
London - The British government's most senior drugs advisor has criticized Prime Minister Gordon Brown Saturday, after being sacked for stating that cannabis was less dangerous than cigarettes or alcohol.
Professor David Nutt, the head of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, was sacked Friday after giving a lecture in which he criticized the government's decision - against his advice - to reclassify cannabis upwards as a so-called Category B drug.
Previously the government had downgraded cannabis to Category C.
Home Secretary Alan Johnson effectively sacked Nutt on Friday, writing to him to say he had no confidence in him.
On Saturday, Nutt accused Brown of having already 'made up his mind' in contradiction of the medical evidence, and was penalizing cannabis out of proportion to its health risk as a 'political.'
Nutt told the BBC the government had ignored advice on cannabis 'on the whim of the prime minister'.
'Until Gordon Brown took office there has never been a recommendation about drug classification from the council that has been rejected by government,' he said.
Nutt has repeatedly said cannabis and LSD were less harmful than tobacco and alcohol.
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