UK: Make booze and cigs classified drugs: They're rated worse than

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Mike Swain m.swain@mirror.co.uk

The Mirror

Tuesday 01 Aug 2006

---
BOOZE and cigarettes are more harmful than LSD and cannabis, experts
warned yesterday.

In excess, they can wreck health, destroy families and have a
devastating effect on society.

And they should be classified among the top 10 most dangerous drugs, say
anti-abuse campaigners.

A list drawn up for the Home Office rated alcohol as the fifth most
hazardous - behind heroin, cocaine, barbiturates and street methadone.

Tobacco came ninth in the league table of 20 - well ahead of Ecstasy.

The list was used by a committee of MPs to recommend scrapping the
present ABC classification of drugs.

They want a new system which rates substances according to the harm they
do - rather than the legal penalties they attract.

Phil Willis, chairman of the Science and Technology committee, said:
"The only way to get an accurate and up-to-date classification system is
to remove the link with penalties and just focus on harm. That must be
harm not only to the user but harm defined by the social consequences as
well."

Lib Dem Evan Harris called the present system an "evidence-free zone".

The new assessments were compiled after consulting a range of experts to
rate the physical harm, potential for addiction and social damage.

Sceptics fear the new list may send out the wrong signals to youngsters
by suggesting that some drugs are less damaging than previously thought.

But Lord Victor Adebowale, of social care organisation Turning Point
said: "Our work across the country tells us a classification system
should take into account the health, social and economic costs of misuse."

Policy officer Louise Inman added: "We need a sensible debate to create
a proper classification system."

Top 20 danger drugs:
1 Heroin'
2 Cocaine'
3 Barbiturates'
4 Street Methadone'
5 Alcohol'
6 Ketamine'
7 Benzodiazepines'
8 Amphetamine'
9 Tobacco'
10 Buprenorphine'
11 Cannabis'
12 Solvents' 1
3 4-MTA'
14 LSD'
15 Methylphenidate'
16 Anabolic Steroids'
17 GHB' 18 Ecstasy'
19 Alkyl Nitrites'
20 Khat.
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