A NUMBER of senior police officers have, in recent years, called for the decriminalisation of all drugs, including the most addictive.

Gwent's own former chief constable, Francis Wilkinson, added his voice to those who say that legalising hard drugs would effectively remove the criminal trade that is so corrosive for society.

It would also allow addicts to be given proper medical care rather than treating them as criminals.

It is an argument that has merit and is worthy of a royal commission.

However, it is vital when dealing with such a sensitive issue that senior figures choose their words extremely carefully.

Unfortunately the latest chief constable to pronounce on the subject is North Wales' renowned clanger-dropper, Richard Brunstrom, who undermined the whole argument with one stupid throwaway phrase.

On a radio interview Mr Brunstrom said that the drug Ecstasy was less dangerous than aspirin.

We presume that Mr Brunstrom was trying to say that more deaths can be attributed to aspirin annually than to Ecstasy, but that is not the message that has come across.

It's a bit like saying that peanuts are more dangerous than guns because they cause more deaths every year, yet such a comparison is clearly nonsense.

The parents of those children who have died after taking Ecstasy will be horrified.

The national tabloid press are already beating the drums and, as a result, the debate into whether drugs should be legalised has taken a massive step backwards.

Mr Brunstrom appears to be one of those people who only open their mouths to change feet.

He is such a prolific loose cannon that few people outside of North Wales take him seriously any more, and we are sure his fellow chief constables are less than impressed.