UK: New drugs czar wants ecstasy downgraded

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The man appointed head of the advisory council for the misuse of drugs once called for ecstasy to be downgraded to a class B drug, politics.co.uk can exclusively reveal.

Professor David Nutt, who replaces Sir Michael Rawlins as chair of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) this afternoon, made the comments at a science and technology committee hearing in 2006.

"I think the evidence base for classification producing deterrence is not strong and we see that with a number of drugs," he said.

"I think 4MTA, LSD and ecstasy probably shouldn't be class A."

Former chairman Sir Michael Rawlins said: "I welcome the appointment of Professor David Nutt as my successor. I have every confidence that he will provide excellent and innovative leadership to the council providing the best possible advice to government."

Home secretary Jacqui Smith praised Sir Michael Rawlins and said: "I look forward to working with his successor so that the advisory council's expert advice can continue to inform our drive to reduce the harm caused by illegal substances."

There are signs Professor Nutt's appointment is already opening up the issue of ecstasy's classification. A Home Office spokesperson told politics.co.uk: "The ACMD will consider the evidence for the classification of ecstasy with an open mind based upon its social misuse and harms relative to other drugs in the classification system."

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New drugs czar wants ecstasy downgraded
Monday, 19 May 2008 12:05
http://www.politics.co.uk/news/equality/policing-and-crime/new-drugs-czar-wants-ecstasy-downgraded-$1223348.htm
 
upgrade cannabis = working backwards, DOWNGRADING is well overdue.

MDMA = certainly needs downgrading. Anyone with a brain (and im sure much of you can vouche for me here, especially those that frequent ED..) will realize that MDMA is simply not a drug of abuse. You can rail coke, smoke meth, shoot H, chase the dragon with opium, and smoke pot to your heart's desire. This is what really makes them "drugs of abuse"... they will make you feel good ANYTIME you choose to use them, and im not pissing all over the "pleasure drugs" right now, just trying to make a point...

MDMA has several built-in deterrents which, if someone who doesn't know much about X, and uses it like someone would binge on adderall, that person will discover sooner rather than later that by day 3 it doesn't give more of a buzz than maybe a few cups of coffee, and you are feeling like absolute SHIT. Or even weekly use, eventually it will catch up to you, and you realize MDMA is not like coke or meth, which you can use all the time... and while MDMA is taken for pleasure way more often than hallucinogens, when it finally shows its' teeth....

It's not something you wanna fuck around with.

Therefore, in my book MDMA has zero "addiction potential" compared to any other drug, including cannabis.

And yeah, this was mentioned before: MAPS has done extensive research and this should be obvious to any skeptic by now...
 
If by 4-MTA they mean 4-Methylthio-amphetamine, they're off their rockers. Shits more dangerous than PMA!
 
Ham-milton said:
if by 4-MTA they mean 4-Methylthio-amphetamine, they're off their rockers. Shits more dangerous than PMA!

Kinda weird throwing a drug like that into a speech about lsd and mdma. How bout 4-ho-mipt? 5-AcO-DMT? That'd be alot better...
 
FractalStructure said:
upgrade cannabis = working backwards, DOWNGRADING is well overdue.

MDMA = certainly needs downgrading. Anyone with a brain (and im sure much of you can vouche for me here, especially those that frequent ED..) will realize that MDMA is simply not a drug of abuse. You can rail coke, smoke meth, shoot H, chase the dragon with opium, and smoke pot to your heart's desire. This is what really makes them "drugs of abuse"... they will make you feel good ANYTIME you choose to use them, and im not pissing all over the "pleasure drugs" right now, just trying to make a point...

MDMA has several built-in deterrents which, if someone who doesn't know much about X, and uses it like someone would binge on adderall, that person will discover sooner rather than later that by day 3 it doesn't give more of a buzz than maybe a few cups of coffee, and you are feeling like absolute SHIT. Or even weekly use, eventually it will catch up to you, and you realize MDMA is not like coke or meth, which you can use all the time... and while MDMA is taken for pleasure way more often than hallucinogens, when it finally shows its' teeth....

It's not something you wanna fuck around with.

Therefore, in my book MDMA has zero "addiction potential" compared to any other drug, including cannabis.

And yeah, this was mentioned before: MAPS has done extensive research and this should be obvious to any skeptic by now...

Totally agree!
 
FractalStructure said:
MDMA has several built-in deterrents which, if someone who doesn't know much about X, and uses it like someone would binge on adderall, that person will discover sooner rather than later that by day 3 it doesn't give more of a buzz than maybe a few cups of coffee, and you are feeling like absolute SHIT. Or even weekly use, eventually it will catch up to you, and you realize MDMA is not like coke or meth, which you can use all the time... and while MDMA is taken for pleasure way more often than hallucinogens, when it finally shows its' teeth....

It's not something you wanna fuck around with.

Therefore, in my book MDMA has zero "addiction potential" compared to any other drug, including cannabis.

And yeah, this was mentioned before: MAPS has done extensive research and this should be obvious to any skeptic by now...


youve obviously not had a rather inexhaustible supply of high quality mdma laying around to dispose of over a period of several months. harm reduction means harm reduction - these statements above are complete b.s. ive seen numerous people go on week-month long binges, and by numerous, id say given said availability, anyone could fall into it. yes eventually youll "run out" of chemistry in ur head and crash, but same thing for all drugs of this nature. just saying - dont think people in the world wouldnt abuse the hell out of E if it were just sold in mini markets on every st corner like cigarettes. its a hard drug.

PS - woot for downgrading and decrim. educating people about drugs, not hiding them, is the right way.
 
^ I know plenty of people that have had pretty much constant access to top-notch MDMA for years, they don't tend to abuse it in the way you describe. There will alway be a minority who try to, but the vast majority learn pretty quickly that it is a pointless and self-defeating exercise. It's like anything: the novelty wears off pretty quickly.

Spec87 said:
Maybe someone did read the MAPS research reports? :)

Yeah, the scientists read them and report to the government who then studiously ignore their reports and stick to stupid (conservative) crowd pleasing policies.

As has been pointed out already, cannabis was downgraded a while back in the UK after similar scientific reports and then recently re-upgraded (despite a marked drop in cannabis use and related mental health problems).

MDMA and friends are - regrettably - going to stay Class A here for quite a while, I suspect.
 
I had pretty good access to MD and didn't go on any serious binges.
Might have had a few midweek sessions, though, and probably used far more often than was a good idea.
 
4-MTA seems to have found its way (not literally, unortunately) into the minds of the politicians and journalists since it was included in that ranking of legal/non-legal drugs a few months back.

Christ knows why though, I can't imagine a more obscure or harmful research chemical.

This would also have the fairly daft effect of having LSD, MDMA and cannabis in the same class.
 
FractalStructure said:
upgrade cannabis = working backwards, DOWNGRADING is well overdue.

MDMA = certainly needs downgrading. Anyone with a brain (and im sure much of you can vouche for me here, especially those that frequent ED..) will realize that MDMA is simply not a drug of abuse. You can rail coke, smoke meth, shoot H, chase the dragon with opium, and smoke pot to your heart's desire. This is what really makes them "drugs of abuse"... they will make you feel good ANYTIME you choose to use them, and im not pissing all over the "pleasure drugs" right now, just trying to make a point...

MDMA has several built-in deterrents which, if someone who doesn't know much about X, and uses it like someone would binge on adderall, that person will discover sooner rather than later that by day 3 it doesn't give more of a buzz than maybe a few cups of coffee, and you are feeling like absolute SHIT. Or even weekly use, eventually it will catch up to you, and you realize MDMA is not like coke or meth, which you can use all the time... and while MDMA is taken for pleasure way more often than hallucinogens, when it finally shows its' teeth....

It's not something you wanna fuck around with.

Therefore, in my book MDMA has zero "addiction potential" compared to any other drug, including cannabis.

And yeah, this was mentioned before: MAPS has done extensive research and this should be obvious to any skeptic by now...


this is a great post. mdma is a lifestyle drug in my opinion, very little chance of dependence if you are semi-intelligent . who the fuck would pop pills habitually? ewwwwwww
 
Dr. Nutt is a good scientist and (shockingly) a rather logical man, in favor of harm reduction rather than mandatory life-long prison sentences. If only the US government would appoint a real scientist to a public health position, rather than another one of Bush's fucking lobbyist friends.

The biggest absurdity is still that LSD is permanently relegated to Schedule I / Class A: unlike MDMA, it has a ridiculously high therapeutic index, has no demonstrated neurotoxic effect (it is actually a potent nootropic) and (by itself) has only killed one or two people (although even that is debated) in the entire history of human use. LSD shouldn't even be in Schedule II, let alone Schedule I.
 
Riemann Zeta said:
has only killed one or two people (although even that is debated) in the entire history of human use. LSD shouldn't even be in Schedule II, let alone Schedule I.

Well I think it is a few more than that, but these are all in cases where people in the manufacturing and distribution process mistook pure powdered LSD for another drug. Along the lines of railing lines of pure LSD. Imagine half a gram of LSD up your nose 8o

You couldn't really eat enough blotters to kill you, certainly not by mistake.
 
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