London, October 29: The Government’s chief drug adviser claims substances like ecstasy, LSD and cannabis are less dangerous than both alcohol and cigarettes.
Professor David Nutt, chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, also attacks the decision to make cannabis a class B drug.
He accuses former home secretary Jacqui Smith, who reclassified the drug, of “distorting and devaluing” scientific research.
Prof Nutt said smoking cannabis created only a “relatively small risk” of psychotic illness.
And he claimed advocates of moving ecstasy into class B from class A had “won the intellectual argument”.
All drugs, including alcohol and tobacco, should be ranked by a “harm” index, he said, with alcohol coming fifth behind cocaine, heroin, barbiturates, and methadone.
Tobacco should rank ninth, ahead of cannabis, LSD and ecstasy.
‘Cannabis not so bad for you’
In a lecture at King’s College, London, Prof Nutt attacked what he called the “artificial” separation of alcohol and tobacco from other, illegal, drugs.
He also repeated his claim that the risks of taking ecstasy are no worse than riding a horse.
Overall, cannabis use does not lead to major health problems, he said, and users of the drug faced a “relatively small” risk of getting a psychotic illness compared to the risks of smokers contracting lung cancer.
He added: “I think we have to accept young people like to experiment – with drugs and other potentially harmful activities – and what we should be doing in all of this is to protect them from harm at this stage of their lives.
“We, therefore, have to provide more accurate and credible information. If you think that scaring kids will stop them using, you are probably wrong.”
Shadow home affairs minister James Brokenshire said: “Rather than adding clarity to the debate on drug classification, Prof Nutt’s comments will add even more confusion.”
A Home Office spokesman said: “Prof Nutt’s views are his own and do not reflect the views of Government.”
—Agencies