It is good to see that the ACMD has not bent to the government pressure to increase prison sentences for vulnerable young people who use drugs. We welcome their calls for greater emphasis on proven prevention treatment and harm reduction interventions (including drug checking services) - and hope the government will take a step back from its punitive populist instincts and follow the expert advice that it commissioned.

Any move by the government to reclassify against the recommendation of the ACMD would be reckless and shameful - knowingly prioritising punitive populism over the health and well being of people they are responsible to protect. The addiction to drug war posturing by previous governments has already cost untold lives.

The Council has long called for an end to criminalisation of personal possession of all drugs on the basis that it is an ineffective deterrent, but can often harm the most vulnerable and marginalised in our communities. This is a call that has been echoed by leading health voices - including the Royal Colleges of Medicine, the Faculty of Public Health, and the World Health Organisation.

The ABC drug classification system, attached to a hierarchy of prison sentences, is dated, malfunctioning and harmful. We are long overdue the 'root and branch' review of the classification system promised by a previous Labour government.

Read our full Ketamine policy briefing here: Ketamine policy & law: Where next for the UK?

Interview with Vicky Unwin, Transform chair, who lost her daughter Louise: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/art...

Transform Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tran...