New drugs chief Les Iversen said cannabis ’safer’
Pharmacology specialist Les Iversen replaced David Nutt, who was sacked by the home secretary last October for "lobbying" against government policy.
Prof Iversen said: "I think cannabis for the time being is past history."
He said much more active attention was currently being paid to so-called legal highs such as mephedrone.
Last year, Home Secretary Alan Johnson accused Prof Nutt of "crossing a line" into politics.
Prof Nutt is setting up an independent drugs panel to rival the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD).
Since that sacking, Prof Iversen, formerly of Oxford, has chaired the council's meetings.
Following his interim appointment, Prof Iversen told the BBC: "I'm not the drug adviser to the government, I'm a spokesman for a large group of people on the advisory council, only a few of whom are scientists."
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