Drug laws and licensing
Back to About usCommittees and members
There are currently 35 members of the Advisory Council.
Much of the Advisory Council's work is taken forward by its committees and working groups.
Technical Committee
This is a standing body of the Advisory Council whose primary purpose is to consider and make recommendations to the Advisory Council about classification and scheduling under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 and its Regulations of any substances which is being or appears to be misused and of which the misuse is having or appears to them capable of having harmful effects sufficient to cause a social problem.
The Techincal Committee will often establish working groups to carry out in-depth reviews of specific drugs, including their classification.
The Hepatitis C Prevention Working Group
(Chair - Dr. Matthew Hickman)
The Hepatitis C Prevention Working Group is focused on the prevention of the Hepatitis C virus among injecting drug users. With an estimated 200,000 people in England and Wales already infected with the virus, the majority through injecting drug use, it appears that current strategies and interventions aimed at prevention are inadequate.
The Prevention Working Group is formed of three sub-groups looking at:
- The epidemiology of the Hepatitis C virus;
- Interventions to prevent Hepatitis C among injecting drug users;
- Modelling and implications for policy and practice.
The Hepatitis C Prevention Working Group held its first meeting on 25th January 2007. Alongside the core ACMD membership this Working Group has co-opted experts from the fields of epidemiology, virology, general practice, statistics and modelling, health economics, social science, public health and drug treatment.
The Pathways to Problems Working Group
(Chair - Caroline Healy)
The Pathways to Problems Working Group was set up to monitor how the ACMD recommendations made in it’s 2006 report Pathways to Problems – Hazardous use of tobacco, alcohol and other drugs by young people in the UK and its implications for policy are being taken forward and implemented.
The two key aspects to its work are:
- Following progress on the report’s recommendations; and
- Assessing its impact on practice which will improve outcomes for children and young people.
The Pathways to Problems Working Group held its first meeting on 8th March 2007. The Group is in regular engagement with key stakeholders including the Dept. for Children, Schools and Families, the Dept. of Health, Home Office, Dept. for Culture, Media and Sport, the Devolved Administrations and the Drug Education Forum.
Membership
There is a statutory requirement that membership includes representatives of the practices of medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine and pharmacy, the pharmaceutical industry, and chemistry other than pharmaceutical chemistry; and people who have a wide and recent experience of social problems connected with the misuse of drugs.
Appointments, usually for a term of three years, are ordinarily made by the Home Secretary, in accordance with guidance issued by the Office for the Commissioner for Public Appointments (OCPA). Pursuant to this guidance, members can serve a maximum period of 10 years, although no member can be re-appointed unless they have received a satisfactory performance appraisal.
Members current term is due to expire on 31 December 2010, with the exception of the Chair, whose term is due to finish on 31 October 2008.
