A new study, published in the Lancet, found that alcohol is the most harmful drug above heroin and crack cocaine based on harm caused to the user and others.
The investigation was led by David Nutt, former government drugs adviser sacked after criticising government policies on cannabis. The team reviewed a range of drug harms using the multicriteria decision analysis modelling, drugs were scored with 100 being the most harmful and 0 being no harm at all. They found that overall alcohol scored 72, heroin 55 and crack cocaine 54. The authors said "the present drug classification systems have little relation to the evidence of harm" and that the findings showed that ‘aggressively targeting alcohol harms is a valid and necessary public health strategy."
Some newspapers reported the DH said it is determined to prevent alcohol abuse without disadvantaging those who drink sensibly.
In an accompanying commentary, "Ranking of drugs: a more balanced risk-assessment" The Lancet, 376(9752): 1524-25, the Dutch experts said "the new data provide a valuable contribution for the re-evaluation of current drug classification in the UK", but the study did not address the polydrug use which can make some drugs much more dangerous. However this was outside the scope of the study.
Source: Drug harms in the UK: a multicriteria decision analysis. The Lancet 376(9752):1558-1565 ( full text va Athens)
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