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01/11/2010
Alcohol 'More Harmful Than Crack'
A new study, published by medical journal The Lancet, suggests that alcohol causes more harm than heroin or cocaine.
The research investigated a wide range of factors regarding recreational drugs and weighed up the mental and physical damage suffered alongside crime and costs to the community.
Taking all factors into account, alcohol was found to be the most harmful, followed by heroin and crack.
The study ranked alcohol three times more harmful than cocaine or tobacco and eight times more harmful than ecstasy.
The research was led by Professor David Nutt, who was sacked over a year ago as the Government's top drugs adviser. He criticised the decision to upgrade cannabis from class C to class B.
At the time, he controversially commented: "You are more likely to die riding a horse than you are by taking cannabis or ecstasy."
After forming the Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs (ISCD), he urged ministers to do more to tackle alcohol abuse and regulate recreational drugs more effectively.
Commenting on the new study, Professor Nutt said: "What a new classification system might look like would depend on what set of harms to self or others you are trying to reduce.
"But if you take overall harm, then alcohol, heroin and crack are clearly more harmful than all others.
"Our findings lend support to previous work in the UK and the Netherlands, confirming that the present drug classification systems have little relation to the evidence of harm. They also accord with the conclusions of previous expert reports that aggressively targeting alcohol harms is a valid and necessary public health strategy."
(BMcN)
The research investigated a wide range of factors regarding recreational drugs and weighed up the mental and physical damage suffered alongside crime and costs to the community.
Taking all factors into account, alcohol was found to be the most harmful, followed by heroin and crack.
The study ranked alcohol three times more harmful than cocaine or tobacco and eight times more harmful than ecstasy.
The research was led by Professor David Nutt, who was sacked over a year ago as the Government's top drugs adviser. He criticised the decision to upgrade cannabis from class C to class B.
At the time, he controversially commented: "You are more likely to die riding a horse than you are by taking cannabis or ecstasy."
After forming the Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs (ISCD), he urged ministers to do more to tackle alcohol abuse and regulate recreational drugs more effectively.
Commenting on the new study, Professor Nutt said: "What a new classification system might look like would depend on what set of harms to self or others you are trying to reduce.
"But if you take overall harm, then alcohol, heroin and crack are clearly more harmful than all others.
"Our findings lend support to previous work in the UK and the Netherlands, confirming that the present drug classification systems have little relation to the evidence of harm. They also accord with the conclusions of previous expert reports that aggressively targeting alcohol harms is a valid and necessary public health strategy."
(BMcN)
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