Alcohol, tobacco more harmful than cannabis, LSD, ecstasy: study. Thoughts?

Question

Alcohol is nearly as harmful as heroin and tobacco is more dangerous than cannabis, LSD or ecstasy, according to a new classification table of drugs published in The Lancet medical journal Friday.

The table, drawn up by a group of leading British scientists, ranked heroin, cocaine, barbiturates and street methadone as the most harmful drugs, closely followed by alcohol in fifth place.

Tobacco was assessed to be the ninth most dangerous drug behind ketamine -- commonly used as a horse tranquilizer -- benzodiazepines, which are prescription tranquillisers, and amphetamines.

Cannabis was said to be the 11th most harmful. LSD was ranked 14th and so-called "clubbers' drug" ecstasy in 18th, or third last, place.

The classifications were based on individual drugs' so-called "harm scores" -- the physical damage to the user; how likely the drug was to induce dependency; and the effect of its use on families, communities and society.

Each of the three categories was split into nine categories of risk and independent experts including psychiatrists, chemists and forensic scientists ranked each category on a scale from 0 ("no risk") to 3 ("extreme risk").

Heroin scored 2.7 on the harm scale with alcohol just under 2. Tobacco scored 1.7 and ecstasy scored just over 1.1.

One of the scientists, Professor Colin Blakemore, the chief executive of the government-funded public health body the Medical Research Council, said their findings differed markedly from the existing drugs classification in Britain.

"Alcohol and tobacco are way up there in the league table, with alcohol being not very far behind demonised terrors of the street like heroin," he said.

His colleague, Professor David Nutt, from the University of Bristol, western England, said isolated cases of unpleasant and unpredictable responses to drugs were allowed to dictate policy.

"A more scientific view is that these risks have to be assessed against their effect on the whole population," he added.

Possessing Class A drugs like heroin, cocaine and crack, ecstasy and LSD currently carries a maximum seven-year prison sentence; cannabis is a Class C drug, while alcohol and tobacco are unclassified.

Blakemore said he hoped policy makers would "take note" that their table differed substantially from the official classification, which a separate British study published on March 8 also criticised as inadequate.

The RSA Commission on Illegal Drugs, Communities and Public Policy said Britain's drug laws should be replaced by a system recognising the harm to health of substances like alcohol and tobacco rather than crime prevention.

The study that was done developed a new classification system for drugs. It's designed to be a more scientific and evidence-based system of classifying drugs then the current system used in the UK which is arbitrary and has little scientific basis.

this is the summary from the study:

Drug misuse and abuse are major health problems. Harmful drugs are regulated according to classification systems that purport to relate to the harms and risks of each drug. However, the methodology and processes underlying classification systems are generally neither specified nor transparent, which reduces confidence in their accuracy and undermines health education messages. We developed and explored the feasibility of the use of a nine-category matrix of harm, with an expert delphic procedure, to assess the harms of a range of illicit drugs in an evidence-based fashion. We also included five legal drugs of misuse (alcohol, khat, solvents, alkyl nitrites, and tobacco) and one that has since been classified (ketamine) for reference. The process proved practicable, and yielded roughly similar scores and rankings of drug harm when used by two separate groups of experts. The ranking of drugs produced by our assessment of harm differed from those use

Answer 1

You can find a study that proves anything you want. And if the study is from any sort of advocacy organization - you can guarantee that they got the results they wanted.

Always suspect studies published by an advocacy group.

Answer 2

might placed alcohol 1st because it particularly is in charge, the two straight away or in a roundabout way, for extra deaths, wellbeing issues and social issues than each and all the others prepare. I parent a substance that is affecting no longer purely the person, yet additionally people who come into touch with the person, should be classed as a worse substance. i'm an alcoholic in restoration for 13yrs and have first hand journey of the wear and tear it could have on so, maximum of human beings. lost a pair of sturdy pals alongside the way. might then placed LSD, as purely taking one messes some human beings up for existence. might then placed tobacco, as, even in spite of the incontrovertible fact that there isn't any actual data that passive smoking reasons any harm, there is data that it does great harm to the purchasers physique, relatively the better capacity for many cancers and lung harm, it is likewise relatively addictive as all of us know. I additionally ask your self how many human beings might touch hashish in the event that they have been non human beings who smoke, after all, maximum peoples favorite way of taking it particularly is to smoke it. might then placed hashish, there is a few data that it ought to reason particular psychological dissorders, yet i've got smoked a good little bit of it myself and met a trustworthy few people who smoked it, and that i will particularly say that I relatively have on no account met everyone that had any psychological matters. It has additionally been mentioned to be of value to human beings which contain those with diverse Sclerosis. i will additionally admit it helped me while giving up ingesting interior the early days. via the way, I smoked it particularly heavily for 2 years and then stopped ineffective, I relatively have had no side outcomes from it. can not relatively remark on Ecstasy as I relatively have on no account touched it. I relatively have met a pair of human beings who've and that they have mentioned provided you purchase the outstanding ones there isn't any longer a issue. I additionally comprehend which you should drink water and not alcohol with it.

Answer 3

How could X possibly be rated as less harmfull than LSD? Sure, if you're dumb or don't have a tripsitter you could jump out the window thinking you can fly, but ecstasy is dangerous. Even pure MDMA causes enough problems, like those related to water (drinking too much, not enough; also overheating is common) However, with the easy possibilities for adulteration...

Answer 4

I have personally seen more lives ruined by crystal methamphetamine, this drug is mentioned only in passing in your question. I have seen many recover from alcoholism, but crystal is so highly addictive and can cause permanent psychological and physical damage that many users having kicked the addiction are never the same.
Unfortunately, the user is punished rather than given help to overcome the addiction. Those that sell and traffic in it should be given 20 years to life, in my opinion.

Answer 5

how the **** can cannabis be in 11th place and LSD be in 14th??? What about all these 'bad trips' i hear about from people I know? I mean...cannabis isnt even considered a DRUG in my mind

Answer 6

sounds like a whole lot of opinion and no facts. Please, do not lump Cannabis with heinous drugs like LSD or ecstasy. Your putting a natural plant, used in it's natural state with highly refined chemicals.

Answer 7

Give someone a cup of alcohol,
Give someone a cup of LSD.
or
Give someone a pound of tobacco,
Give someone a pound of cannabis.