Any decision to remove ecstasy from the group of drugs which are highly addictive would mark a sharp change in official policy. It would also be sure to spark a fierce reaction from anti-drug campaigners and the families of ecstasy victims such as the Essex teenager Leah Betts.
Most ecstasy taken in the UK is made in the Netherlands and smuggled into Britain.
About 3,000 people were convicted of ecstasy related offences in 1998. The Police Federation inquiry is chaired by Lady Runciman, the former head of the government's advisory council on the misuse of drugs, and includes two chief constables as well as former home office civil servants on its team. It is expected to recommend that instead of imprisoning people caught possessing cannabis, the offence should be treated as a minor civil offence. Drug law reform campaigners fear this will be a retrograde step. The change of classification for ecstasy would mean much more lenient penalties and end cases where teenagers have been jailed for supplying a small group of friends with a tablet each.