I will address each of the four substances in turn:
(i) Benzodiazepines
(a) The Home Office has not been in discussions with outside bodies other than occasional correspondence with members of the public and the lobby group “Beat the Benzos”.
(b) Benzodiazepines were first brought under the controls of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 in 1986 following consultation with the Advisory Council on the Misuse of drugs (ACMD). The ACMD considered the classification of these drugs again in 2004 following representations from the “Beat the Benzos” group, but did not recommend any alteration to the classification.
(ii) Khat
(a) The Home Office commissioned two pieces of work on khat, by Turning Point and MACRO, in addition to receiving a number of pieces of correspondence from members of the public and community groups.
(b) The issue of Khat was referred to the ACMD in March 2005. They established a Khat working group to consider the issue in detail and report back to the full council. The council published its report and recommendations in January 2006 and their recommendations were accepted in full.
(iii) Ecstasy
(a) The Home Office as not been in discussions with any outside bodies about ecstasy.
(b) Ecstasy was placed in class A on the recommendation of the ACMD in 1977. In 1996 the ACMD convened a special meeting to discuss ecstasy following a number of deaths. They did not make any recommendation to change the classification.
(iv) Magic mushrooms
(a) The Home Office has not been in discussions with any outside bodies about magic mushrooms.
(b) The recent legal alteration to the position of magic mushrooms under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 was primarily a matter of legal clarification. We wrote to the ACMD, and asked for its views on our proposals, before the Drugs Bill was introduced. The ACMD agreed that a clarification of the legal position was necessary. In addition, they approved the associated regulations.