Alcohol is more dangerous than heroin, study claims
Monday, 1 November 2010
London Independent
Alcohol is more dangerous than illegal drugs like heroin, ecstasy and crack cocaine, a new study said today.
Researchers rated alcohol the most dangerous substance based on the overall dangers to the individual and society as a whole.
The work was led by Professor David Nutt, the former government drugs adviser who was sacked for criticising the then Labour government's decision to upgrade cannabis from class C to class B. His team analysed how addictive a drug is and how it harms the human body as well as other factors like environmental and socio-economic costs, such as health care, social services, and prison. They found heroin, crack cocaine and methamphetamine, or crystal meth, to be the most lethal to individuals.
When considering their wider social effects, alcohol, heroin and crack cocaine were the most dangerous.
But overall, alcohol outranked all other substances, followed by heroin and crack cocaine. Marijuana, ecstasy and LSD scored far lower.
Marking substances from zero to 100 based on their criteria, alcohol scored 72 overall, compared to 55 for heroin and 54 for crack.
Other drugs examined included: crystal meth (33), cocaine (27), tobacco (26), amphetamine/speed (23), cannabis (20), GHB (18), ketamine (15), methadone (13), ecstasy (9), anabolic steroids (9), LSD (7), buprenorphine (6) and magic mushrooms (5).
The study was produced by Prof Nutt's Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs (ISCD), and published today in medical journal The Lancet...more
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