Alcohol is the world's most dangerous drug when you consider the harm it does to drinkers, their friends and families and to society in general. The harm that alcohol does exceeds the dangers of even heroin and crack cocaine when the overall danger to the user and others is taken into account.This is the conclusion of a panel of British experts that assessed and ranked the harm caused by 20 different drugs, both legal and illegal.
Members of Britain's Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs (ISCD) and two specialists from the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) carefully assessed the harm caused by each drug in 16 separate categories.
Ranking the Harm Drugs Do
The scientists ranked each drug on a scale of 0 to 100 in nine areas related to the harm that the drugs do to the individual and seven categories of harm they do to others. They looked at the physical, psychological and social harm the drugs do to life expectancy, health risks, dependence, mental functioning, loss of tangibles, loss of relationships, crime, costs to society, family adversities and other factors.
By applying a multicriteria decision analysis to each drug and then weighing which harms are more important than others, the scientists were able to give each drug a score that could be compared and combined across all 16 criteria.
The panel's analysis showed that heroin, crack cocaine and methamphetamine were the most harmful drugs to the individual user, while alcohol, heroin and crack were the most harmful to others. When the two harms were combined, the overall most harmful drugs were alcohol, heroin and crack cocaine.
The Most Harmful Drugs
Here are the scores each drug received for overall harm caused on a scale of 0 to 100:
- Alcohol 72
- Heroin 55
- Crack Cocaine 54
- Methamphetamine 33
- Cocaine 27
- Tobacco 26
- Amphetamine 23
- Marijuana 20
- GHB 19
- Benzodiazepines 15
- Ketamine 15
- Methadone 14
- Anabolic Steroids 10
- Ecstasy 9
- LSD 7
- Buprenorphine 7
- Mushrooms 6
- Anabolic Steroids 10
The ISCD panel, chaired by Professor David Nutt, concluded that the current drug classification systems do not take into account the actual harms done by various drugs and have little relation to that harm caused.
"It is intriguing to note that the two legal drugs assessed -- alcohol and tobacco -- score in the upper segment of the ranking scale, indicating that legal drugs cause at least as much harm as do illegal substances," Nutt told reporters.
Nutt said public health strategies need to be adjusted to aggressively target the harm that alcohol does. It's a valid and necessary step, he said.
Source: Nutt DJ, et al, "Drug harms in the UK: a multicriteria decision analysis," The Lancet. November 1, 2010. Related Information:
Photo: BigStockPhoto.com
It’s so true that “legal” drugs are much more harmful than illegal because of their availability. I am a recovering alcoholic (2+ years), and it’s really difficult at times to remain abstinent. Thankfully I have a solid A.A. program to rely upon, but particularly at the holidays, drinking is an important fixture. In grocery stores, there are tastings of wine and other spirits, parties where alcohol flows freely, and believe it or not, fruit cake which is saturated with liquor. Alcohol withdrawl is extremely dangerous, with deaths coming from seisure within the first week.
So, to anyone who’s having a hard time leaving the bottle alone, make sure you get help, either by a treatment program or A.A., it saved my life and countless other’s!
Alicia – congratulations on your 2 years…I am at 10 months and couldn’t agree more with you! I went into treatment earlier this year and also learned that alcohol does more harm to your body than any other drug. Add that with it being legal and the easy availability of alcohl and for a recovering alcoholic like myself, alcohol would surely have killed me had I not quit. Whats so frustrating to me is alcohol seems promoted in this country where as “saying no” is not encouraged nearly as much. I wish I had learned early on how wonderful a sober life can be. Its not always easy but the benefits of a healthy productive life are so much better. I realize now that for me drinking was a way of coping and dealing with life but whats truly amazing is that by not drinking (or drugging), I am forced to literally stand up to any situation head on and walk through it soberly & courageously. To me it seems like we are the real champions in life facing life head on and not relying on chemicals to distort our reality and we will be rewarded in the end with long, healthier lives & hopefully the opportunity to help others with addiction problems. Good luck to you on your journey in sobriety & happy holidays – I think this will be the first happy holidays for me in a long time!!!
as an alcoholic in recovery i can only state being sober is vital.if i ever pick up the vodka i will die.being sober brings relief from negativity and thoose voices in your head telling you to end it all.some may disgree with this yet i have yet to meet an alcoholic to whom this does not apply. Using the 12 steps and having spiritual awakening as a result is the only cure. I wish all alcoholics well and hope you find the rooms of the aa before it is too late. Every addict has a bottom,so did i and lived that bottom and the depths of depression for many years unable to stop my addiction hurting not only myself but my family and friends, luckily these are a distant memory and have found soberity restored my life,and it’s a good one. All mine for avoiding one drink.
Almost every system in the body can be negatively affected by excessive or chronic alcohol consumption. Alcohol can cause cancer, liver disease, heart attacks and brain damage, to name a few. Because many alcoholics also smoke, the health risks are further compounded
Alcohol is the world’s most dangerous drug when you consider the harm it does to drinkers, their friends and families and to society in general. The harm that alcohol does exceeds the dangers of even heroin and crack cocaine when the overall danger to the user and others is taken into account.
This is the conclusion of a panel of British experts that assessed and ranked the harm caused by 20 different drugs, both legal and illegal.
The scientists ranked each drug on a scale of 0 to 100 in nine areas related to the harm that the drugs do to the individual and seven categories of harm they do to others. They looked at the physical, psychological and social harm the drugs do to life expectancy, health risks, dependence, mental functioning, loss of tangibles, loss of relationships, crime, costs to society, family adversities and other factors.