Alcohol 'more dangerous than crack, heroin and Ecstasy'

[u2scram]

Professor David Nutt: Alcohol 'more harmful than heroin, crack and Ecstasy' | Mail Online

"Scientists have found that alcohol is the most harmful drug overall and three times as harmful as cocaine and tobacco, according to a new scale of drug harm that rates the damage to both users and to wider society.

Ecstasy is only an eighth as harmful as alcohol, according to the new analysis, led by the controversial sacked government drugs adviser David Nutt with colleagues from the breakaway Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs.

The study says that if drugs were classified on the basis of the harm they do, alcohol would be class A, alongside heroin and crack cocaine.

The findings of the study, published in the Lancet today, are likely to reignite the debate over the government’s drugs classification system."

 

[topspin]

but booze has billions of dollars for lobbyist, the other drugs have zip.

 

[Shooter]

I read this yesterday. This study couldn't be more wrong. They should be ashamed of themselves for putting out such false garbage. Alcohol worse than crack and heroine? Are you fucking kidding me?!?!?!

Anyone that believes alcohol is more harmful and dangerous than crack and heroine is clueless and not grounded in reality.

Let me ask you all this. If your adult child was going to do crack/heroine or have a Budweiser...which would you rather him do?

This poll is ridiculous and sends the wrong message to our younger kids. I can see some 18-year old and saying, "Hell, since alcohol is maore dangerous maybe I'll skip the bar and go get a crack rock, smoke that, and then go shoot my arm up with heroine. Afterall, it's safer than drinking that Heineken.

These people should be ashamed of themselves. I smell an agenda at work here.

 

[topspin]

and your GED qualifies you how?

 

[California Girl]

It's not fact... it is a result of a study. One study. Key word: "claims".... the study claims. It does not confirm or establish... it 'claims'. This is the problem with science... the scientific results are misrepresented by those with an agenda.

 

[topspin]

no doubt in total booze cost the economy the most, I'm sure crack for the individual is worse though powder is probably fractional to booze.

 

[Wry Catcher]

It's not fact... it is a result of a study. One study. Key word: "claims".... the study claims. It does not confirm or establish... it 'claims'. This is the problem with science... the scientific results are misrepresented by those with an agenda.

LOL, the problem with science is ...misrepresented by those with an agenda.; If there is an agenda, it is not science.
That said, in the overall picture, I agree alcohol is the greatest social problem, by far.
Alcohol abuse is a major factor in DUI's, Domestic Violence, Assaults and Battery's, vandalism, homelessness, emergency room visits, work accidents and accidents in the home (falls, etc), child neglect and abuse, abscenteeism from work and chronic illness associated with alcoholism, poor nutrition, liver cancer, heart disease and diabetes. As well as rants by some moderators on this very message board.

 

[Nate]

The only way I could ever see alcohol being any deadlier than crack, heroin, or ecstasy is because it is so much easier to get a hold of than many of those drugs. I guess my only question for this "Nutt" is by what scale he used? Was he comparing drinking an entire bottle of Jack Daniels to the equivalent(price) of ecstasy or heroin?

 

[California Girl]

It's not fact... it is a result of a study. One study. Key word: "claims".... the study claims. It does not confirm or establish... it 'claims'. This is the problem with science... the scientific results are misrepresented by those with an agenda.

LOL, the problem with science is ...misrepresented by those with an agenda.; If there is an agenda, it is not science.
That said, in the overall picture, I agree alcohol is the greatest social problem, by far.
Alcohol abuse is a major factor in DUI's, Domestic Violence, Assaults and Battery's, vandalism, homelessness, emergency room visits, work accidents and accidents in the home (falls, etc), child neglect and abuse, abscenteeism from work and chronic illness associated with alcoholism, poor nutrition, liver cancer, heart disease and diabetes. As well as rants by some moderators on this very message board.

Yep, you're right. I worded that very badly.

 

[G.T.]

I saw this in the news yesterday.

I can only accept it if it means that Alcohol has more wide-spread negative effects on Society, being that it's LEGAL, and more people indulge in the activity.

I cannot agree if the study means that Heroin is a less Dangerous drug for the INDIVIDUAL.

This study truly is Dangerous to release like this. I wonder how many idiots think that it's an endorsement to go on some crack. Yay!

 

[topspin]

booze can kill, people just turn a blind eye to it. Simpletons are scared by reefer madness and other anti drug propaganda.

 

[G.T.]

booze can kill, people just turn a blind eye to it. Simpletons are scared by reefer madness and other anti drug propaganda.

Booze can kill and I don't see many people denying this. What I'd deny until I'm blue in the face is that Alcohol is more Dangerous to the Individual than Crack or Heroin.

It's nothing to do with reefer madness. It's just reality.

 

[Soggy in NOLA]

If there is an agenda, it is not science.

Please relay this message to Al Gore and the global warming cultists.

Thanks!

 

[topspin]

reality is that fear is stoked in the masses to all non legal drugs.
Booze industry spends billions to keep that fear in you alive.

 

[California Girl]

I saw this in the news yesterday.

I can only accept it if it means that Alcohol has more wide-spread negative effects on Society, being that it's LEGAL, and more people indulge in the activity.

I cannot agree if the study means that Heroin is a less Dangerous drug for the INDIVIDUAL.

This study truly is Dangerous to release like this. I wonder how many idiots think that it's an endorsement to go on some crack. Yay!

It's from the Mail. A notoriously 'fear mongering' source, they have quite low journalistic standards.

For anyone who is truly interested in a more factually accurate and carefully written piece, I suggest you look to a more reputable source, such as The Times, Telegraph, etc.

 

[Soggy in NOLA]

Booze doesn't kill... being a complete and unchecked drunk kills.

 

[Epsilon Delta]

What I'd deny until I'm blue in the face is that Alcohol is more Dangerous to the Individual than Crack or Heroin.

Well, that's good, you won't have to pass out- because that's not what the study is claiming.

 

[Epsilon Delta]

Booze doesn't kill... being a complete and unchecked drunk kills.

That pretty much goes for every single drug.

 

[del]

I saw this in the news yesterday.

I can only accept it if it means that Alcohol has more wide-spread negative effects on Society, being that it's LEGAL, and more people indulge in the activity.

I cannot agree if the study means that Heroin is a less Dangerous drug for the INDIVIDUAL.

This study truly is Dangerous to release like this. I wonder how many idiots think that it's an endorsement to go on some crack. Yay!

that's exactly what the study said; alcohol is much more harmful to society at large, and crack and heroin are much more harmful to the individual.

"Our findings raise questions about the validity of the current Misuse of Drugs Act classifi cation, despite the fact that it is nominally based on an assessment of risk to users and society. The discrepancies between our fi ndings and current classifications are especially striking in relation to psychedelic-type drugs. Our results also emphasise that the exclusion of alcohol and tobacco from the Misuse of Drugs Act is, from a scientific perspective, arbitrary. We saw no clear distinction between socially acceptable and illicit substances. The fact that the two most widely used legal drugs lie in the upper half of the ranking of harm is surely important information that should be taken into account in public debate on illegal drug use. Discussions based on a formal assessment of harm rather than on prejudice and assumptions might help society to engage in a more rational debate about the relative risks and harms of drugs."
(emphasis added)

How Bad Are Illegal Drugs? - Lancet Study

 

[editec]

Of course these "studies" are measuring the toxicity of those drugs BY WEIGHT.

So in that sense they are right.

But if you truly want to determine which drug is more harmful, then one must study what harm these drugs are causing as a whole in the population.

Alcohol clearly kills more people than crack or heroin or Ecstacy, combined...far more people, actually.

But the question of incidence of harm per USE is still another question.

I haven't done a study of it, but my experience dealing with crackheads and heroin addicts leads me to think those are more likely to addict people and more likely to ruin their lives, too.

Ecstacy?

Well, I don't know.

It's not the same drug it was back in my day.

Then it was one hour of amusement followed by a day or two of depression.

Now I'm informed people are dancing themselves into the hospitals with heat exhaustion from it.