Alcohol worse than crack, heroin

[auck_builder]

The bit i found funny is near the bottom...

Alcohol is a more dangerous drug than both crack and heroin when the combined harms to the user and to others are assessed, British scientists said.

Presenting a new scale of drug harm that rates the damage to users themselves and to wider society, the scientists rated alcohol the most harmful overall and almost three times as harmful as cocaine or tobacco.

According to the scale, devised by a group of scientists including Britain's Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs (ISCD) and an expert adviser to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), heroin and crack cocaine rank as the second and third most harmful drugs.

Ecstasy is only an eighth as harmful as alcohol, according to the scientists' analysis.

Professor David Nutt, chairman of the ISCD, whose work was published in the Lancet medical journal, said the findings showed that ``aggressively targeting alcohol harms is a valid and necessary public health strategy''.

He said they also showed that current drug classification systems had little relation to the evidence of harm.

Alcohol and tobacco are legal for adults in Britain and many other countries, while drugs such as ecstasy and cannabis and LSD are often illegal and carry the threat of prison sentences.

``It is intriguing to note that the two legal drugs assessed _ alcohol and tobacco _ score in the upper segment of the ranking scale, indicating that legal drugs cause at least as much harm as do illegal substances,'' Nutt, who was formerly head of the influential British Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), said in a statement about the study.

Nutt was forced to quit the ACMD a year ago after publicly criticising ministers for ignoring scientific advice suggesting cannabis was less harmful than alcohol.

The World Health Organisation estimates that risks linked to alcohol cause 2.5 million deaths a year from heart and liver disease, road accidents, suicides and cancer _ accounting for 3.8 percent of all deaths. It is the third leading risk factor for premature death and disabilities worldwide.

In an effort to offer a guide to policy makers in health, policing, and social care, Nutt's team rated drugs using a technique called multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) which assessed damage according to nine criteria on harm to the user and seven criteria on harm to others.

Ad Feedback Harms to the user included things such as drug-specific or drug-related death, damage to health, drug dependence and loss of relationships, while harms to others included crime, environmental damage, family conflict, international damage, economic cost, and damage to community cohesion.

Drugs were then scored out of 100, with 100 given to the most harmful drug and zero indicating no harm at all.

The scientists found alcohol was most harmful, with a score of 72, followed by heroin with 55 and crack with 54.

Among some of the other drugs assessed were crystal meth (33), cocaine (27), tobacco (26), amphetamine or speed (23), cannabis (20), benzodiazepines, such as Valium (15), ketamine (15), methadone (14), mephedrone (13), ecstasy (9), anabolic steroids (9), LSD (7) and magic mushrooms (5).

[AllenNZ]

Just seen the same subject on fox tv here in LA.

[vracula]

magic mushrooms here i come.

[knock knock]

Im surprised about the meth!

[Gasp]

"Professor David Nutt"

Unfortunate name when you`re trying to feature in the credibility stakes.

[Daz69]

Im surprised about the meth!

I think the report is more volume based in its analysis, there are far more people drink & smoke than take crystal meths, therefore more of a social impact caused swayed towards alcahol & tobacco abuse because of the numbers involved who partake regularly worldwide...

If the report were to look at it differently ie: take an average 100 drinkers & compare them with 100 users of heroin, P, or crack cocaine, then the social impact would be far greater in favour of the later group....

[knock knock]

Makes sense. Maybe I'll stay away from those mushrooms and LSD then :pfft:

[Maximus]

When I was at University I worked in a busy nightclub and saw first hand the carnage that alcohol can produce. I lost count of how many people I saw covered in blood/glass/puke/booze etc staggering around (men and women) pissed out of their minds starting fights. A few beers now and again is ok or a few glasses of wine, but it's a dangerous drug that a lot of people can't handle in moderation.

[Daz69]

Makes sense. Maybe I'll stay away from those mushrooms and LSD then :pfft:

No they're fun........................ :pfft: :pfft: :pfft:

Load up your system with GHB before you take LSD, then try smoking Salvia Divinorum 40X............ :grin:

[Kiwijuice]

When I was at University I worked in a busy nightclub and saw first hand the carnage that alcohol can produce. I lost count of how many people I saw covered in blood/glass/puke/booze etc staggering around (men and women) pissed out of their minds starting fights. A few beers now and again is ok or a few glasses of wine, but it's a dangerous drug that a lot of people can't handle in moderation.

I see this every weekend which is why i agree that alcahol hands down should be at the top of that list.

However as daz has said if everyone smoked meth instead of drunk then im sure the results would be a bit different.

[Ronin]

When I was at University I worked in a busy nightclub and saw first hand the carnage that alcohol can produce. I lost count of how many people I saw covered in blood/glass/puke/booze etc staggering around (men and women) pissed out of their minds starting fights. A few beers now and again is ok or a few glasses of wine, but it's a dangerous drug that a lot of people can't handle in moderation.

After 12 years i security, I'd have to agree with you there. Mind you, at least most drunks will still respond to a little "pain compliance"...the same cannot always be said of a mether.

[Dontrunwithknives]

Makes sense. Maybe I'll stay away from those mushrooms and LSD then :pfft:

No they're fun........................ :pfft: :pfft: :pfft:

Load up your system with GHB before you take LSD, then try smoking Salvia Divinorum 40X............ :grin:

Haha just the 40x would be pretty crazy. Thought I was floating on the roof looking down at myself after a bit of the 10x

[quotejoss]

When I was at University I worked in a busy nightclub and saw first hand the carnage that alcohol can produce. I lost count of how many people I saw covered in blood/glass/puke/booze etc staggering around (men and women) pissed out of their minds starting fights. A few beers now and again is ok or a few glasses of wine, but it's a dangerous drug that a lot of people can't handle in moderation.

I see this every weekend which is why i agree that alcahol hands down should be at the top of that list.

However as daz has said if everyone smoked meth instead of drunk then im sure the results would be a bit different.

if everyone smoked meth instead of drunk booze at least there wouldn't be so many fatties around.

[knock knock]

......or people with teeth...