The UK goverment commissioned psychopharmacologist Professor David Nutt and neuroscientist Professor Colin Blakemore to rank recreational drugs by their dangerousness.
The list has just been published in today’s The Independent and gives some surprising results. Unusually, the list contains both legal and illegal drugs.
The drugs were ranked by ratings which took into account a combination of their physical damage, social harm and addictive properties.
In rank order of harmfulness:
1. Heroin
2. Cocaine
3. Barbituates
4. Street methadone
5. Alcohol
6. Ketamine
7. Benzodiazepines (e.g. Vallium)
8. Amphetamines
9. Tobacco
10. Buprenorphine
11. Cannabis
12. Solvents
13. 4-MTA
14. LSD
15. Methylphenidate (Ritalin)
16. Anabolic steroids
17. GHB
18. Ecstasy
19. Alkyl Nitrites (poppers)
20. Khat
I would like to point out to my ex-girlfriend that Red Bull is not listed among them.
There’s more information on each drug here and an article about the consultation here.
Apparently, the government were a little reticient to publish the report, considering the legal clasification is completely out of whack with this analysis.
Mind Hacks 