Prof. Nutt gets £450,000 to support independent drugs committee

Professor David Nutt

A hedge fund manager is providing financial backing to a new independent drugs committee set up by the former chief drugs adviser dismissed by Alan Johnson, the Home Secretary.

Toby Jackson has provided £450,000 to support the new committee, which was officially launched yesterday by Professor David Nutt. Professor Nutt said the Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs (ISCD) would provide the “best science” available on the dangers of recreational drugs.

The ISCD is being given £150,000 a year for three years by Mr Jackson.

Nutt is likely to be invited to give evidence on drug harm to the Government’s official Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) from which he was dismissed last year, according to Professor Les Iversen, its interim chairman. Professor Iversen said: “I welcome the development of this new committee. I think it is healthy to have public debate about drug policy and drug harms.”

Professor Nutt said at the committee’s launch in Central London: “This is the strongest grouping of scientists looking at drugs that we’ve ever had in this country. It is a truly independent committee. The model is used in other countries — the Dutch have a similar system. It’s something many of us have wanted for a long time."

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