In research published in the medical journal The Lancet this week, alcohol scored 72 on a 100-point scale, followed by heroin with 55 points, and crack cocaine with 54.
The authors classified data into two main categories: how it effected individuals and how it effected society as a whole. Physical, psychological, and social concerns were analysed, including how addictive the drug was, how it harmed the body, and what kind of socio-economic costs it created, for instance on social services, hospitals, and prisons.
A 16-category harm measurement system was used.
Heroin, crack cocaine, and crystal meth (in that order) were measured in the report as most harmful to individuals, while alcohol, heroin, and crack cocaine were deemed to be worst for society.
At the low end of the scale, marijuana earned 20 points and ecstasy scored 9, which suggests it is one-eighth as harmful to society as alcohol, chiming with Dr Nutt’s comments in previous years, when he famously compared taking ecstasy to riding a horse.
Dr Nutt had been the chair of the previous government’s Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) but was asked to resign a year ago this month.
Fellow members of the ACMD resigned in support of the professor, who rejected the rationale for his dismissal.
Discussing his latest report, Dr Nutt told the BBC, “There are hundreds of thousands of people who crave alcohol every day, and those people will go to extraordinary lengths to get it.”
But the results have been dismissed by some as tainted by the professor’s personal perceptions, and for the inherent problems of comparing banned drugs with those which are freely available.
Wine and Spirit Trade Association told the Courier: “Professor Nutt’s views are well known. Like some in the medical profession, he chooses to campaign on this issue. But his views don’t tally with the views of millions of ordinary people around the country who enjoy alcohol as part of a regular and enjoyable social drink.”
Brigit Simmonds, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association said: “The vast majority of people know it’s just not rational to say that enjoying a social beer with friends in the pub or glass of wine over dinner has the moral or societal equivalence of injecting heroin or smoking a crack pipe.”
Home Secretary Jacki Smith took umbridge with Dr Nutt last year when he contrasted the 30 deaths a year related to ecstasy with the 100 deaths a year from horseriding.
Later Home Secretary Alan Johnson sacked Dr Nutt, saying the professor had over-stepped the mark by trying to direct policy over drug classification.
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