Politics has been allowed to "contaminate" science and the work of government advisers, a leading medical journal said.
A hard-hitting editorial in The Lancet strongly criticised the "rushed" decision to ban the drug mephedrone after "political and media pressure".
It also highlighted a report on tackling alcohol and tobacco abuse by young people that was "conveniently buried" by the furore over mephedrone. The editorial focused on the troubled recent history of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) which issues scientific advice to ministers.
In October 2009, the council's former chairman, professor David Nutt, was sacked for criticising government policy on cannabis and ecstasy. His dismissal triggered the protest resignation of five other members.
Now the ACMD, led by new interim chairman professor Les Iverson, is embroiled in more controversy over mephedrone.
The former "legal high" drug was given Class B status and banned after reportedly being linked to 25 deaths.
Yet the ACMD report which recommended the ban acknowledged there was no scientific evidence of a causal link between the deaths and drug.