Top > Health > 2007 > March > 2007-03-28

So They Say LSD and Ecstasy is Safer than Tobacco and Alcohol...

An independent commission, set up by the Royal Society of Arts, conducted a scientific survey of commonly used drugs and their harms, and found that tobacco and Alcohol were more damaging than LSD and Ecstasy. The research was conducted by to separate groups of drug experts, who evaluated 20 different drugs and graded them by scale of medical harm caused, their tendency to cause dependence and their social harm, including their effect on families, communities and society.

"The current drug classification system is arbitrary in the way it assesses harms. It is not fit for purpose," Professor David Nutt, an addiction psychiatry expert at the prestigious University of Bristol and head of the latest research, said. "We have tried to come up with a better system by looking at the factors that contribute to drug use and the harms they cause. We should review the penalties for drug use in the light of the harms they cause and have a more proportionate response."

The study showed the disproportion in which drugs are commonly categorized. The scientific evidence gathered showed that while heroin and cocaine are correctly ranked as the most harmful class A drugs, LSD and ecstasy are relatively safe, yet they are also labeled as class A drugs. Alcohol, which is legal and widely used, was found to be fifth most harmful, more than amphetamines and cannabis, which are ranked as class B and class C drugs respectively, in the UK. Tobacco was also found to be more harmful than cannabis.