This is in the UK news today, what are your thoughts and comments ?


http://news.uk.msn.com/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=4405588


Scientists say alcohol is nearly as harmful as heroin

Alcohol is ranked almost as harmful as heroin in a controversial new drug classification system proposed by a team of leading scientists.

The class A drug Ecstasy, possession of which can result in a seven-year prison sentence, is placed near the bottom of the league table which lists "harm scores" for different substances.

LSD, another class A drug, is also considered relatively safe despite its powerful hallucinogenic properties.

Cannabis, recently downgraded to class C, occupies a middle position. It is rated more dangerous than Ecstasy, LSD and the dance floor drug GHB, but less harmful than tobacco.

The table, published in The Lancet medical journal, was drawn up by a team of highly respected scientists led by Professor David Nutt, from the University of Bristol, and Professor Colin Blakemore, chief executive of the Medical Research Council.

It is intended to be a model for policy makers which is more scientifically based than the current Misuse of Drugs Act system that attaches "a, b, and c" labels to illicit drugs.

The scientists identified three main factors that together determined the harmfulness of a controlled substance.

These were: The physical harm to the individual user caused by the drug, the tendency of the drug to induce dependence, and the effect of the drug's use on families, communities and society.

Unsurprisingly, the results placed heroin at the head of the table with an overall "harm score" of 2.7, followed by cocaine which scored 2.3.

But more controversially, alcohol is ranked as the fifth most dangerous drug, scoring just under 2 on the table.

It's about time, but they still haven't got it completely right. Alcohol is more harmful than heroin. Alcohol is much more toxic and causes brain and liver damage with long term use. Heroin is actually safer than morphine because tolerance buildup is less rapid and it has less toxicity in effective doses for control of pain.

...and far more available. I struggle to not apply a conspiracy theory as to the constant supply and promotion of such dumb-drugs and the hysterically perverse disinformation forced into some show of fact. Obviously I am not qualified to evaluate legislation or for that matter common sense (nor, it seems, are the qualified).