I just ran across
an interesting story on tomorrow's
Independent about how the law classifies relatively benign drugs as dangerous and vice versa.
Since the Independent is a British publication, it focuses on that country's laws. Our country's laws are worse, perhaps much worse, because of a "throw the book at them" mentality that goes back to the Reagan administration (Clinton wasn't much better than Reagan and the two Bushes on that count) and recent feeding frenzies over steroids, date-rape drugs, and Ecstasy.
And don't even get me started on marijuana policy, where the dead hand of Harry Anslinger still reigns supreme.
Tomorrow's
Independent also published
a summary of a British government study ranking the relative harm, on both individuals and society, of various legal and illegal drugs.
Here's are the top 20 drugs, with number one being the most dangerous. Legal drugs are marked with an asterisk.
1. Heroin
2. Cocaine
3. Barbiturates
4. Street methodone
5. Alcohol*
6. Ketamine
7. Benzodiazepenes (tranquilizers)
8. Amphetamines
9. Nicotine*
10. Buprenorphine (basically, deluxe methodone)
11. Cannabis
12. Solvents*
13. 4-MTA (a "dance drug" similar to Ecstasy)
14. LSD
15. Methylphenidate (we know it by its common name, RItalin)
16. Anabolic steroids
17. GHB, the so-called "date rape drug"
18. Ecstasy
19. Alkyl nitrites*
20. Khat* (leaves of an Asian shrub, which are a natural stimulant; legal in Britain)
One drug not on this list is testosterone. If you factor in all of its effects from road rage to wars, it's a good thing the human male prouduces the stuff naturally. Otherwise, it would be at the top of the list.