David Nutt, the drugs researcher whose sacking by the UK government triggered a huge debate over science advice, has announced he will launch his own advisory group next week.

Nutt was sacked from his role as head of the government’s Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) last year after a drawn out row involving his statements on the relative harms of drugs, and the government’s failure to take the council’s advice (see our previous coverage).

A score of leading scientists will attend the meeting, including members of the ACMD, the BBC reports. “We have a really very, very powerful grouping – more powerful than the ACMD in the past has ever managed to pull together,” says Nutt.

Nutt proposed an ‘independent scientific council on drug harms’ after his sacking last year (outlined in the embedded video). However, some have questioned what impact the body will have.

The UK’s Labour government went against the advice of the official – though supposedly independent – ACMD in assigning legal classifications to illegal substances, so it is questionable what notice they will take of this new body.

Likewise, members of the Conservative opposition party – which many expect to soon be in charge of the UK – have also made disapproving noises regarding Nutt in the past. The party generally takes a ‘tough on drugs’ stance.

Having said that, it may be that the advisory council can have some real credibility with those to whom messages about risk really need to reach: those who use or are considering using drug.