Is alcohol more dangerous than heroin? We all know that alcohol, heroin and crack cocaine are all highly addictive drugs. A new alcohol study ranks 20 drugs on 16 measures. Marijuana, Ecstasy and LSD all came in with lower rankings than alcohol, heroin and crack cocaine. The alcohol study environmental damage and costs to families and economy were taken into account determining how dangerous these drugs are. Since President Franklin Roosevelt repeal prohibition, alcohol has remained the most widely used and dangerous drug.
Dr. David Nutt of the Imperial College in London rated the 20 drugs in the new study. Using a point scale from 0 to 100, with 100 being the most dangerous, alcohol scored a 72. Heroin came in at 55, Crack Cocaine at 54, Crystal Meth at 33, Powder Cocaine at 27 and Tobacco at 26. Marijuana came in at only 20, with Ecstasy at 9 and LSD at a mere 7. The lowest drug scored was ‘Magic Mushrooms at only 5. The findings of the new study by Dr. Nutt and his team were published in the medical journal, The Lancet.
In 2007 Dr. Nutt did a similar study basing his findings on only nine criteria. This new study uses a new analytical technology known as Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis, or MCDA. A UK group known as the Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs met for a one day workshop. They scored 20 drugs based on nine criteria concerning the harm each drugs causes to the individual user and on seven criteria concerning the harm the drug causes to nonusers.
The purpose of this type of analysis using the MCDA technology and method is to affect public policy decisions. For example, a great deal of time, money and resources are used to combat the use of Ecstasy, however, as the new study shows, such resources and efforts would be better spent on fighting other forms of drug abuse.
The new study makes it plain that between alcohol and heroin, alcohol is more dangerous than heroin to both the individual user and to society as a whole. The study shows that alcohol, heroin and crack cocaine are all highly addictive drugs. The new alcohol study ranks 20 drugs on 16 measures with Marijuana, Ecstasy and LSD all came in with lower rankings than alcohol, heroin and crack cocaine. The alcohol study examines environmental damage and costs to families and economy were taken into account determining how dangerous these drugs are. Since President Franklin Roosevelt repeal prohibition, alcohol is the most dangerous substance abused.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... 13&ps=cprs
http://www.associatedcontent.com/articl ... crack.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39938704/
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2010/11/0 ... 148653343/
This seems to be an example of how "science" (ie. using a scientifically quantifiable formula) can be used to affect an issue that is considered "moral" by some parts of society. It'd be interesting to see the categories they used to reach their conclusions --though the conclusion, itself, is both empirically and intuitively correct.