LSD less dangerous than alcohol, says UK government's drug adviser

The Government’s chief drug adviser has suggested that Ecstasy, LSD and cannabis are less dangerous than both alcohol and cigarettes.

David Nutt, chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, attacked the decision to make cannabis a Class B drug. He accused the former Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, who reclassified the drug, of “distorting and devaluing” scientific research.

Professor Nutt said smoking cannabis created only a “relatively small risk” of psychotic illness, adding that all drugs, including alcohol and tobacco, should be ranked by a “harm” index.

He said that alcohol came fifth behind cocaine, heroin, barbiturates and methadone, while tobacco should rank ninth, ahead of cannabis, LSD and Ecstasy. His views are published today as a briefing paper for the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies at King’s College London.

@"The Times'

"To base punishment on the weight of the carrier medium makes about as much sense as basing punishment on the weight of the defendant."

Something that amazed me earlier today was that if you are caught with 100 doses of LSD in liquid form in the US you would probably get a year sentence. However if the same 100 doses were in blotter form you would get a 2 to 3 year sentence, if they were on sugar cubes you would get 15 years because they include the "carrier medium" for LSD in calculating the drug's weight for sentencing purposes!

Meanwhile this editorial in The Washington Post talks about the disparity in sentencing between cocaine and crack in the US...