Alcohol 'more harmful than heroin' says Prof David Nutt

Here is the article on Realitysandwich.com:

A new ranking system based on a multicriteria analysis reveals alcohol to be the most harmful drug, beyond even heroin and crack.

The system developed by Professor Nutt of Imperial College London uses the multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) to look at nine criteria that reflects harm caused to the user, which includes mortality, mental impairment, and dependency, as well as seven criteria that reflects damage done to others such as crime, environmental damage, economic cost, and family conflict, clustering them into five subgroups that represent physical, psychological, and social harms.

The scaling was bast out of 100, 100 being the most harmful substance, and 0 being most harmless. The author of the model explained that great care was given "to ensure that each successive point on the scale represents equal increments of harm." So if a drug scored at 50, it would then be half as harmful as a drug that scored at 100.

The MCDA model placed alcohol at 72, making it the most harmful substance from a full range of analyzed categories, with the next highest drug being heroin which scaled at 55 points. Alcohol was placed over three times as harmful as coc aine and tobacco, and those placed even lower were cannabis (20), ecstacy (9), '___' (7), and mushrooms at (5) proving the lowest of all the classified drugs.

According to Nutt, a new classification system may group drugs into a new grading scale and the new findings lend support to previous work in the UK and Netherlands that confirms that the present drug classification system "have little relation to the evidence of harm." The importance of this new ranking system will hopefully be utilized in the reformation of the drug policy, grouping drugs together in terms of their actual harm and not through lobbyist campaigns, which will help cast a clearer perception on the reality of the substances considered socially acceptable and those tightly controlled in a grip of unscientific fear.

Our country has been mislead to believe that substances that have the potential to open and expand your mind are harmful and deadly. Water can be deadly. This is proof that there is much being held from us. This is proof that the governments and higher powers of our countries are promoting the harmful deadly drugs (alcohol, tobacco), and outcasting the potentially mind expanding harmless drugs (marijuana, '___', Psylocibin). The mind needs food too. They are depriving us of the fuel our mind needs to evolve.

What a crock. I just saw an unbiased study several weeks ago about alcohol not being nearly as unhealthy as people have been lead to believe. In fact, the study suggested that people drink every day, and not just that one modest glass of wine in every case. Alcohol more deadly than heroine? Is this guy a priest, or on heroine or something?

reply to post by spacemanjupiter


The study suggested people drink everyday?

I really don't think you read it correctly, do you have a link to this?

reply to post by spacemanjupiter


The reason for alcohol being worse than heroin is because:

1. No one would ever want to drive if they were experiencing heroin. More people die from drunk driving accidents than there would ever be heroin accidents.
2. You can legally by alcohol, as much as you want, and you know where to get it. Heroin is much harder to obtain.
3. Alcohol is extremely easy to use increasing it's potential for abuse. Heroin requires some skill in administering it, turning off potential users.
4. You are most likely introduced to alcohol at a much younger age and is used at almost every location in the world. Heroin users are much much more hard to find than alcohol users.
5. The heroin experience is obviously not intended for getting loopy and doing stupid things incoherently and endangering those around you like alcohol has proven itself to be.

All drugs can be used positively, it all depends on the users ability to control it and not abuse it.

Heroin, coke, alcohol... it seems everytime man tries to create something better than what god already left here we make monsters.

reply to post by twisted-timothy


www.youtube.com...

alcohol is ok. kinda glad i have only 2 legs.

it will kill ya in more ways than 1.

weed is good to relax, i could never stand amphets. did my share of psychedelics long time ago.

never had the pleasure of H.

I have quite a 'liberal' outlook on the use of drugs.
I thoroughly enjoy drinking alcohol, especially the social aspect of it.
I know lots of people who do both.

I know a hell of a lot of people who have suffered in various ways due to alcohol; violence, addiction, illness etc, some have died due to it, but the vast majority are perfectly ok with it barring the occassional hangover etc.

I know lots of people who have to varying degrees been regular drug users, mostly social users.
The vast majority of them handle it ok but a minority have had psychological issues which have been exaggerated, to varying degrees, to their drug use.

Over the years I have known only a relatively small handful of people who have used heroin, even only rarely.
Of these 14 have died of heroin overdoses.
Some very good friends.

I don't want to be seen advocating alcohol and non-opiate useage, to each their own.
But the maths are simple; Heroin kills.

To say that Alcohol is more harmful than heroin is ignorant and naive at best and irresponsible and misleading at worst.

Hmm I find this very odd - over the last 3 years since I opened a bar I've become increasingly saddened by the state of some of the lost souls who wander in late every weekend. Luckily we're seen as more of a family/food bar so we don't get that many heavy drinkers but the few we do get are all pretty much wasting their lives and spending every weekend getting as tanked up as they can.

That said, alcoholics seem to go on for years. I had an alcoholic Great Uncle who lived into his 70s in relatively good health. I can't say that habitual crack and heroin users last quite so long. And given the expense and addictive qualities of coke and heroin how can either one possibly be less harmful than alcohol?

reply to post by Freeborn


Alcohol kills many more people than heroin. The outcome of the friends in your life does no justice to prove that heroin is more dangerous and unhealthy than alcohol. This doesn't make people ignorant and naive or irresponsible and misleading like you stated. What is misleading is that people have been blinded by the real killers. Mislead to never see that alcohol can be extremely dangerous. Just look at the propostion involving alcohol sales tax. Alcohol is promoted in a good way, used in religion, used everywhere. The concern that is being stated now is.... lack of concern.

reply to post by galadofwarthethird


An addiction give the user a physical withdrawl symptom. Alcohol does this. Weed does not.

reply to post by earthdude


It's just absurd that alchol is legal and bud is not, just absurd.

reply to post by pinealexplorer


Pro-rata, dividing number of users by number of deaths, I think it is fair and true to say that heroin kills far more people than alcohol does.
That is most defnately true in my experience.

I accept and agree that society's attutude towards alcohol useage and the use of other substances is hypocritical, misleading, archaic and simply wrong, but that my friend is a discussion for another time and place.

reply to post by Extralien


Well! He'a got the right name! Leave oor beer alone Nanny!

Is there anyone who will not bear witness to this fact.

I think what they are saying is that in a world where coc aine, heroin, and alcohol were all legal, alcohol would be the most dangerous. Most heroin and coc aine deaths are caused by overdoses because they are street drugs and it's hard to tell their potency. Someone may buy a batch and do a bunch one day, then do that same amount from another batch the next and die because it's stronger.

They are saying if it was legal and controlled, the government could guarantee a quality control, so unless people wanted to die and intentionally overdose they would be ok. Since they would then be decriminalized (probably for the prior addicted) the prices would be driven down and people, though still addicted, wouldn't be committing crime to get their stuff.

Long term, the people being safe and taking clean drugs would have less health problems and be less likely to kill someone that is getting drunk. They are saying the effects of the drug itself is less dangerous to you and others than alcohol.

Originally posted by Freeborn
reply to post by pinealexplorer

 

Pro-rata, dividing number of users by number of deaths, I think it is fair and true to say that heroin kills far more people than alcohol does.
That is most defnately true in my experience.

I can't even say for fact that this is true, I would lean towards completely incorrect. If it is though it's only because of Heroins illegal status not because of the drug itself. If people could have a regulated dose it would be just as safe if not safer than alcohol.