He does agree, however, that "what we should be doing is to protect [young people] from harm at this stage of their lives". The Government thinks that imposing serious penalties for cannabis use is a reasonable way of achieving that goal. So do I. Prof Nutt is entitled to take the contrary view, but he should not claim that it is merely the result of "science": it is about as scientific as advocating that handguns should be as freely available as swimming pools, because every year, fewer children get shot than drown.