Criminalizing Drugs Using Common Sense

Scientific study instead of politics brings not so surprising results

A report out in The Lancet (subscription required, here is another "free" article) takes an interesting (i.e. logical) approach to figuring out how harmful mood/mind-altering substances are: Take each drug, and rank it based on...

1. its "propensity to cause physical harm", including acute/ immediate effects, chronic/long-term effects, and specific effects regarding IV drug use;
2. its "propensity to cause dependent behavior", including physical dependence, psychological dependence, and withdrawal reactions; and
3. the "propensity to cause social harm", including violence, accidents/damage, effects on immediate family, and health-care costs.

So what are the results?

Well, if you ask doctors, scientists, and law enforcement officials (instead of politicians), here is how they rank the 20 most common illegal (and legal) drugs in terms of what I shall call the "how bad they are" measure.

1. Heroin 2. Cocaine/crack 3. Barbiturates (sedatives) 4. Methadone (pain killer) 5. Alcohol 6. Ketamine (psychedelic) 7. Sleeping pills 8. Amphetamines 9. Tobacco 10. Buprenorphine (pain killer)

11. Marijuana 12. Inhaling solvents 13. 4 MTA (stimulant) 14. LSD/acid 15. Ritalin (ADHD drugs) 16. Anabolic steroids 17. GHB (the "date rape drug") 18. Ecstasy 19. Poppers / Rush (inhalers) 20. Khat (chewable stimulants)

One thing that I find interesting is that narcotic pain medications are not on the list anywhere, although in America they are highly abused. (OxyContin is a particular target of abuse — just ask any unfortunate chronic back-pain sufferer, like Rush Limbaugh.) This is a British study, and hence the inclusion of "Khat", an East African leaf chewed for its caffeine-like properties, not commonly found in America.

Anyway, the most obviously surprising findings are the ones highlighted in blue... things that most people with common sense (and a little bit of knowledge of drugs) have known for ages: In terms of addiction, health costs, and damage to the world immediately surrounding the addict, alcohol is by far one of the most damaging drugs available today. Tobacco is more damaging to life and health than marijuana. LSD is only mildly addictive or damaging, and Ecstasy is barely so, if at all.

So therefore, I would like to put forth the suggestion to all of you bar owners in Pattaya that from now on you replace all of your alcohol with LSD and ecstasy, and all of you tobacco smokers have to switch over to marijuana. It is scientifically-proven that the world will be a better place if you do.

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UPDATE:

Just to add another bit of "you already knew this, but maybe not" knowledge: It is literally impossible to overdose on marijuana. It is essentially impossible to overdose on LSD (unless you take 1,000 doses). How much alcohol do you have to drink before you wind up in the hospital? See Andrew Sullivan for details.

Alcohol thus ranks at the dangerous end of the toxicity spectrum. So despite the fact that about 75 percent of all adults in the United States enjoy an occasional drink, it must be remembered that alcohol is quite toxic. Indeed, if alcohol were a newly formulated beverage, its high toxicity and addiction potential would surely prevent it from being marketed as a food or drug. This conclusion runs counter to the common view that one's own use of alcohol is harmless.