'ALCOHOL MORE DANGEROUS THAN LSD'

The Government's chief drug adviser has sparked controversy by
claiming 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, attacked the decision to make cannabis a class B drug.

He accused 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.

Prof Nutt said: "No one is suggesting that drugs are not harmful. The
critical question is one of scale and degree. We need a full and open
discussion of the evidence and a mature debate about what the drug
laws are for - and whether they are doing their job."

In a lecture and briefing paper for the Centre for Crime and Justice
Studies 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.

A Home Office spokesman said: "Prof Nutt's views are his own and do
not reflect the views of Government. The Government is clear - we are
determined to crack down on all illegal substances and minimise their
harm to health and society as a whole."