OXFORD DON - CIGARETTES MORE DANGEROUS THAN ECSTASY

An Oxford Professor has co-written a report which ranked ecstasy and
cannobis below alcohol and tobacco in terms of individual and social
harm. The report, published by The Lancet in March, criticises the
current ABC system of classification of drugs in the UK. It claims to
"suggest a new system for assessing the potential harms of drugs on
the basis of fact and scientific knowledge". Three categories i?="
physical harm, dependence and social harm i?=" were
established.

Each drug was given a score in each category and these scores were
added up to produce a final result. Heroin was ranked as the most
dangerous drug. Controversially, ecstasy was ranked 18th and cannobis
11th whilst tobacco was ranked 9th and alcohol 5th. Professor Colin
Blakemore, of Magdalen College and chief of the Medical Research
Council, said, "The current ABC system pays too much attention to
adverse reactions which affect very few people.

Class A drugs have been demonised by the media, who have not been
terribly responsible by focusing on cases such as Leah Betts. They do
not say that this is one of a very few people who die from ecstasy
compared with the tens of thousands who die from alcohol consumption
i?=" one has to get these things into balance. "90% of all drug
related deaths are caused by alcohol and tobacco and we accept it
because they are legal, we think we can't do anything about it. Well,
we should.

The clearest message that came out of our report is that we must
consider the real social harms caused by alcohol and tobacco."
Professor Blakemore also criticised the government's policy on drugs.
"Their scare tactics simply do not work, as the facts show. Half a
million to a million young people will use ecstasy on any one
weekend. They are using their personal experience to guide them when
they should have objective evidence at their disposal.

The Home Office has shown no interest in introducing a new
classification system. It cities harm reduction as its aim and
claims, "The Drug Strategy is delivering tangible improvements in
communities across the country. The number of drug-related deaths has
fallen by 14% from 2002 to 2004. Increasing quantities of drugs are
being seized and organised crime groups and dealers have been
disrupted. Record numbers of of drug misusers are entering and
staying in treatment.

An anonymous Oxford student who uses ecstasy said, "There definitely
needs to be more accessible information about drugs. At the moment,
all people are told is "you might die", which means people who may
wish to experiment don't know the real risks and possible side
affects and therefore trust their friends, who may not be a reliable
source.

A new independent commission, the UK Drug Policy Commission, of which
Blakemore is a member, will be launched this month with a major
review of UK drug policy.