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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: MPs report to call for changes to drug laws
Ananova
Sunday 17 Feb 2002 A group of MPs are reportedly set to recommend cannabis be decriminalised and ecstasy downgraded. The recommendations by the Home Affairs Select Committee are expected to be published in a report this spring. The Observer says the report follows a seven month investigation conducted at Downing Street's request. The MPs also want heroin to be prescribed on the NHS to addicts, more "harm reduction strategies" and a review of drug treatment in prisons. A source close to the committee told the newspaper: "The chairman, Chris Mullin MP, is set on these recommendations, and the majority of the committee is behind him." Lord Falconer, the Housing Minister, will meet the Home Office Ministers John Denham and Bob Ainsworth on Tuesday to look at drug law reform. Roger Howard, chief executive of the government-funded charity Drugscope, said: "For such an influential body to be suggesting such significant reforms is indicative of the pressing need for change." But John Ramsey, a toxicologist at St George's Hospital Medical School in London, voiced concerns about implying certain drugs are safe. The newspaper says the report coincides with calls for two cannabis derivatives to be prescribed on the NHS. They'll come in the form of capsules and a spray which is used under the tongue. The Department of Health consultation paper, which is to be published tomorrow, says they could be used to treat multiple sclerosis sufferers. However, they're still undergoing trials and are unlikely to be licensed for use until 2004.
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