Research by the Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs have found that, of all drugs, alcohol presented the most danger to it’s user and those around them.

“Overall, alcohol was the most harmful drug.”

Prof David J. Nutt, Leslie A. King, Lawrence D. Phillips and two other specialists scored 20 drugs on 16 criteria, nine of which related to the harms that a drug produces in the individual and seven to the harms to others. Drugs were scored out of 100 points, and the criteria were weighted to indicate their relative importance.

The research, by Prof Nutt and his team, showed that heroin, crack cocaine, and methamphetamine were the most harmful drugs to individuals (part scores 34, 37, and 32, respectively), whereas alcohol, heroin, and crack cocaine were the most harmful to others (46, 21, and 17, respectively). Overall, alcohol was the most harmful drug (overall harm score 72), with heroin (55) and crack cocaine (54) in second and third places.

Further more it was found that the findings of the research correlate poorly with present day drug classification, which is not simply based on considerations of harm.

The research were funded by the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies (UK)

Download (PDF, Unknown)

Source

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(10)61462-6/abstract

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/alcohol-is-far-more-deadly-than-cannabis-former-minister-norman-baker-says-9885334.html

Share this: Tweet





Like this: Like Loading...