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Drugs

Tags: drugs, musings,

Added: 2006-07-31T19:59

Drugs

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.























SubstancePhysicalDependanceSocial
Heroin2.783.002.54
Cocaine2.332.392.17
Barbiturates2.232.012.00
Street Methadone1.862.081.87
Alcohol1.401.932.21
Ketamin2.001.541.69
Benzodiazepines1.631.831.65
Amphetamine1.811.671.50
Tobacco1.242.211.42
Buprenorphine1.601.641.49
Cannabis0.991.641.50
Solvents1.281.011.52
4-MTA1.441.301.06
LSD1.131.231.32
Methylphenidate1.321.250.97
Anabolic Steroids1.450.881.13
GHB0.861.191.30
Ecstasy1.051.131.09
Alkyl Nitrates0.930.870.97
Khat0.501.040.85


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.

posted by Calum on 2006-07-31T19:59 under

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