BOOZE AND CIGS 'WORSE THAN E'

ALCOHOL is considered almost as harmful as heroin in a new drug
classification system proposed by leading scientists.

Class A drug Ecstasy - possession of which can mean seven years in
jail - is near the bottom of the league table which lists 'harm
scores' for different substances.

LSD, another class A drug, is also considered relatively safe, despite
its powerful hallucinogenic properties.

Cannabis, recently downgraded to class C, occupies a middle
position.

It is rated more dangerous than Ecstasy, LSD and dance floor drug GHB,
but less harmful than tobacco. The table, which is published today in
The Lancet medical journal, is intended to be more scientifically
based than the current Misuse of Drugs Act system.

Prof Colin Blakemore, chief executive of the Medical Research Council,
said: "Alcohol and tobacco are way up there in the league table, with
alcohol being not very far behind heroin."

He said there was no rational, evidence-based method for assessing the
harmfulness of drugs.

He added: "We hope policy-makers will take note that alcohol and
tobacco are judged more harmful than many illegal substances."