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Tezcatlipoca · 01-11-2009, 21:22

It isn't just Prof. Nutt who has claimed, based upon his expert opinion and evaluation of the evidence, that the drugs he mentioned are less dangerous than some legal ones.

The ACMD itself (comprised of a wide range of experts in medicine, pharmacology, psychiatry, chemistry, social issues, legal & criminal issues, etc.) recommended, based upon their expert opinion and evaluation of the evidence, that cannabis should remain a Class C, and not be upgraded back to a Class B, due to it being less harmful than other Class B drugs. The Government ignored this expert advice, choosing instead to pander to puritanism & the tabloids.

The ACMD itself recommended, based upon their expert opinion and evaluation of the evidence, that ecstasy should be downgraded from a Class A to a Class B, due to it being less harmful than other Class A drugs. The Government ignored this expert advice, choosing instead to pander to puritanism & the tabloids.

Adding to the ACMD's past reports, there was also a report published in the Lancet in 2007, by a team of experts including Prof. Nutt and Prof. Colin Blakemore (then head of the MRC), along with contributions from people in various fields such as psychiatry, chemistry, pharmacology, forensics, police and legal services.

The study examined the current drug classification system and looked into the physical harm, social harm, and likelihood of addiction of twenty different drugs - including legal drugs such as alcohol and tobacco as well as illegal drugs.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2...rugsandalcohol

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/la...464-4/fulltext

The report's authors stated that, based upon the available scientific evidence and their expert opinions, alcohol and tobacco are actually more dangerous than cannabis, LSD, and ecstasy.

They also said that if alcohol and tobacco happened to be classed in the same way as illegal drugs, alcohol would be a Class A, and tobacco would be a Class B.

The study concluded that, of the 20 drugs they investigated, heroin & cocaine were the most dangerous. Alcohol came in at 5th most dangerous, 6th place went to Ketamine (currently only a Class C), in 9th place was tobacco, 11th place cannabis, 14th place LSD, 18th place Ecstasy.

[I believe it was the talk of drug rankings from this report which sparked off this whole thing recently]

We need a proper grown-up debate about what is actually more harmful, and how our current shambles of a classification system should work. But our political masters seem to prefer to just go, in the words of South Park's Mr Mackey "Drugs are bad, m'kay!". They want evidence to fit policy, when surely it should be the other way around.

Hmm, two members of the ACMD have resigned following Prof. Nutt's sacking:

Dr Les King, former head of the Drugs Intelligence Unit in the Forensic Science Service:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8336635.stm

Marion Walker, member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and clinical director of Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust's substance misuse service:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8336884.stm

I wonder how many more will follow...

01-11-2009, 21:22	#44
Tezcatlipoca Inactive Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Cambridge Posts: 16,760	Re: Truth hurts, eh!?!? It isn't just Prof. Nutt who has claimed, based upon his expert opinion and evaluation of the evidence, that the drugs he mentioned are less dangerous than some legal ones. The ACMD itself (comprised of a wide range of experts in medicine, pharmacology, psychiatry, chemistry, social issues, legal & criminal issues, etc.) recommended, based upon their expert opinion and evaluation of the evidence, that cannabis should remain a Class C, and not be upgraded back to a Class B, due to it being less harmful than other Class B drugs. The Government ignored this expert advice, choosing instead to pander to puritanism & the tabloids. The ACMD itself recommended, based upon their expert opinion and evaluation of the evidence, that ecstasy should be downgraded from a Class A to a Class B, due to it being less harmful than other Class A drugs. The Government ignored this expert advice, choosing instead to pander to puritanism & the tabloids. Adding to the ACMD's past reports, there was also a report published in the Lancet in 2007, by a team of experts including Prof. Nutt and Prof. Colin Blakemore (then head of the MRC), along with contributions from people in various fields such as psychiatry, chemistry, pharmacology, forensics, police and legal services. The study examined the current drug classification system and looked into the physical harm, social harm, and likelihood of addiction of twenty different drugs - including legal drugs such as alcohol and tobacco as well as illegal drugs. http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2...rugsandalcohol http://www.thelancet.com/journals/la...464-4/fulltext The report's authors stated that, based upon the available scientific evidence and their expert opinions, alcohol and tobacco are actually more dangerous than cannabis, LSD, and ecstasy. They also said that if alcohol and tobacco happened to be classed in the same way as illegal drugs, alcohol would be a Class A, and tobacco would be a Class B. The study concluded that, of the 20 drugs they investigated, heroin & cocaine were the most dangerous. Alcohol came in at 5th most dangerous, 6th place went to Ketamine (currently only a Class C), in 9th place was tobacco, 11th place cannabis, 14th place LSD, 18th place Ecstasy. [I believe it was the talk of drug rankings from this report which sparked off this whole thing recently] We need a proper grown-up debate about what is actually more harmful, and how our current shambles of a classification system should work. But our political masters seem to prefer to just go, in the words of South Park's Mr Mackey "Drugs are bad, m'kay!". They want evidence to fit policy, when surely it should be the other way around. Hmm, two members of the ACMD have resigned following Prof. Nutt's sacking: Dr Les King, former head of the Drugs Intelligence Unit in the Forensic Science Service: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8336635.stm Marion Walker, member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and clinical director of Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust's substance misuse service: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8336884.stm I wonder how many more will follow...