Free drugs advice body from ministers – Nutt

The Government's drug advisory body is "fatally flawed" and should be rebuilt from scratch along the lines of the Bank of England, Professor David Nutt said yesterday.

Scientists advising politicians on drugs policy should be as independent as the Bank officials who decide interest rates, he said. The scientist at the centre of the drug advice row added that he was taking seriously an anonymous supporter's offer to fund an alternative expert group that would operate without any interference from ministers.

And he said many of his former colleagues on the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) could resign en masse when they meet the Home Secretary, Alan Johnson, for crisis talks next Tuesday. Professor Nutt, who was sacked as chairman of the ACMD, said: "I think it should be re-formed with a new structure with a much clearer demarcation of the reporting lines. I don't think it should report to a single minister, but to Parliament or a panel of ministers."