Two of the government’s drug advisers quit this weekend and many more could follow in protest at the forcing out of Prof David Nutt – the ex-head of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs.

The two advisors who quit this weekend are thought to be joined by more this week in a mass revolt by the advisory council. A meeting in a weeks time may decide a complete resignation of all 28 members.

Alan Johnson the home secretary has said "You cannot have a chief adviser at the same time stepping into the public field and campaigning against government decisions. You can do one or the other; you can't do both."

But this is not just an attack on Prof Nutt’s freedom of speech. It's very clear the government don’t like being told the actual facts behind drug use and would rather pedal out a voter friendly tough line on some substances despite the evidence of their independent board of scientists.

This means we keep our draconian laws and the prohibition culture – no-one is helped, but more of the people who choose to take drugs will be punished severely.

The argument that lowering the punishment for cannabis, LSD and ecstasy ‘sends out the wrong message’ is ridiculous. No drug user considers the punishment when weighing up whether or not to take drugs. People will continue to take drugs no matter what the law is. There are not people at home with a pill saved up for when the punishment drops to a lower class.

We don’t expect our members of parliament to know everything – that’s why they organise advisory bodies. But ignoring their findings despite glaringly obvious science begs the question – what is the point in having them at all?