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The Metropolitan Police commissioner has called for tougher action on celebrities who take drugs.
Sir Ian Blair said stars should face a trial before a jury if they are filmed apparently using cocaine or crack.
Police cannot currently charge someone if they are unable to prove what substance they have taken. The law has resulted in celebrities including Kate Moss and Amy Winehouse escaping charges after being photographed or caught on camera appearing to take drugs.
Sir Ian told the Evening Standard: "My position is that a sensible jury would not expect people to be sniffing talcum powder. At the moment the law says you must be in possession of a Class A or a Class B to be prosecuted. If you are seen on film then nobody can tell what the substance is.
"I think it is reasonable for a jury to say 'you convince me that you are taking talcum powder' because it is an unusual way to take it."
However, Director of Public Prosecutions Sir Ken Macdonald disagreed with Blair's comments, saying: "If he is accurately quoted, he appears to have completely misunderstood the law. The issue was not whether the white powder that Kate Moss was snorting was cocaine or talcum powder.
"The law required us to prove that it was either a Class A drug or a Class B drug. It was impossible for us to do this since cocaine - a Class A drug - and amphetamine - a Class B drug - are both white powders."
