Three more members of the government's drug advisory panel quit on Tuesday, the Home Office said, as a row between scientists and the government deepened and threatened to cause ministers further embarrassment. Skip related content
The three members of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) resigned their posts shortly after a meeting with Home Secretary Alan Johnson, who had been trying to smooth over tensions with the panel.
The row broke out at the end of last month when Johnson sacked the country's chief drug adviser Professor David Nutt on the grounds he had overstepped his role and was too political.
Nutt had argued that ecstasy and cannabis were less harmful than alcohol, and also criticised Prime Minister Gordon Brown's government for ignoring scientific advice on those drugs, accusing ministers of misleading the public about their dangers for purely political reasons.
The government downgraded cannabis's legal status on the advisory body's advice in 2004 but Brown reversed that decision last year, saying he wanted to send a strong message that the use of the drug was unacceptable.
Nutt's sacking angered many prominent members of Britain's scientific community, and two members of the ACMD quit in protest days later.
"Today's resignations were regrettable but discussions with the ACMD today were constructive," a Home Office spokeswoman said.
Earlier Johnson's office had issued a joint statement with the ACMD saying he had stressed the value of its work and it had summarised its concerns over Nutt's dismissal and the way its advice was received by the Home Office.
(Reporting by Michael Holden, editing by Mark Trevelyan)
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