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Mon, 2006-07-31 19:59 — calum

Alcohol is worse for you than LSD, and a lot worse for you than Ecstasy.

So say the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee.

They ranked some of the major drugs, rating them by
* Physical harm
* Dependence
* Social harm
with a score of 0 = none, 1 = some, 2 = moderate, and 3 = high.

Substance Physical Dependance Social
Heroin 2.78 3.00 2.54
Cocaine 2.33 2.39 2.17
Barbiturates 2.23 2.01 2.00
Street Methadone 1.86 2.08 1.87
Alcohol 1.40 1.93 2.21
Ketamin 2.00 1.54 1.69
Benzodiazepines 1.63 1.83 1.65
Amphetamine 1.81 1.67 1.50
Tobacco 1.24 2.21 1.42
Buprenorphine 1.60 1.64 1.49
Cannabis 0.99 1.64 1.50
Solvents 1.28 1.01 1.52
4-MTA 1.44 1.30 1.06
LSD 1.13 1.23 1.32
Methylphenidate 1.32 1.25 0.97
Anabolic Steroids 1.45 0.88 1.13
GHB 0.86 1.19 1.30
Ecstasy 1.05 1.13 1.09
Alkyl Nitrates 0.93 0.87 0.97
Khat 0.50 1.04 0.85



So alcohol is the 2 most societally damaging drug after heroin - that's a pretty bad indictment of it.

I'm very glad that someone in the Government has stopped banging the "drugs are bad, but alcohol and tobacco are fine" drum for a few seconds, and has spent some time calculating the actual harm that drugs can do. It's also nice to see alcohol and tobacco listed in a list of "drugs", as too often they're overlooked, as they're legal.

I don't think they're saying though, that taking LSD or Ecstasy 20 times a day is less damaging for you than smoking. I wonder if the "physical" effects include long term mental/psychological damage?

And I also wonder where a strong cup of tea would come in that list. And what the hell is Khat?

Of course, the best drugs are the natural ones - andrenaline, endorphins, dopamine, serotonin. Get high on life, kids.