Drugs without the hot air: Making Sense of Legal and Illegal Drugs

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When we appraise an intervention for the treatment of a disease we look to see its overall benefit in terms of increasing quality adjusted life years, not how many people can benefit from it (although the two may be related). Our conclusion was that, although there probably was a causal link between smoking cannabis and some cases of schizophrenia, this link was weak and didn’t justify moving the drug up to the next Class. For example, he points out that tobacco and alcohol are drugs that are much more dangerous than many illegal drugs.

The inclusion of copious academic references at the end of each chapter provides reassurance that it’s all backed up by science. Nutt declares, “There is no such thing as a safe level of alcohol consumption,” and adds that “there is no other drug which is so damaging to so many different organ systems in the body. Both for treatment (as is already being done in some cases), and also for recreational use and identifying possible genetic risks.He was Chair of the ACMD's Technical Committee for seven years, and became chairman of the Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs in 2010.

As well as being informative, 'Drugs Without the Hot Air' is an extremely well-structured and readable book. For some reason – perhaps it was a slow news day – this got picked up by the media and I was interviewed on BBC Radio 4.Which brings us back to cannabis – the only drug in the history of the UK Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 ever to be downgraded, following recommendations made by the †Runciman report in the year 2000. The fallout from this mindset is increasingly apparent, and it's become a popular topic in Latin American countries ravaged by the U. I live in a restrictive third-world country, so the concept of a book that portrays drugs objectively instantly caught my eye.

An actual expert scientific investigation of alcohol/drugs and drug policy without a bunch of misleading morality-based bullshit. Broadening the scope of the discussion, a framework is explored for formulating national drug policies that will minimize a myriad of harms—social, medical, criminal, financial, and environmental.A clear and reasonable perspective on a complicated and controversial area from an expert unafraid of talking sense to power about addictive drugs, legal or illegal. With alcohol we feel more open to talking, with tobacco less nervous, with heroin we can get the pain to go away.

Nutt's definition of “harm” is based on sixteen variables that range from drug-specific mortality (“death from poisoning,” i. By using the Web site, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by the Terms and Conditions. Alcohol, for example, receives the same sort of examination as amphetamine, and in every case, he considers a drug's possible medicinal uses, as well as its cultural and social context.Five words – Drugs Without the Hot Air - are enough to tell you both that this book gives a pretty comprehensive summary of (mainly recreational) drugs, and that is presented in a fairly matter-of-fact way. He makes arguments without drawing out his reasoning and support for the connections between various different pieces, using a figure on p.