As expected, experts met in London last week to discuss the case for the reclassification of MDMA, the active ingredient in ecstasy, from a Class A to a Class B drug.
Professor Val Curran of UCL said that studies linking ecstasy to depression and memory loss were "meaningless". She said: "We have not found [one] person who was dependent on ecstasy. The people who used it were actually a bit less depressed. There's no robust evidence of long-term effects. Further research is needed".
All this debate may be fruitless, though. As the British government has already refused to consider the reclassification of MDMA "whatever the evidence".