Drug Czar's plea to downgrade 'E'

My comment to this article:

When one considers the 114,000 a year killed by tobacco, the 5,000 a year
who die from alcohol overdose and the 120,000 mental health cases a year
also caused by alcohol, LSD and ecstasy seem relatively very safe drugs.

Lorna Spinks died because the tablets she took were far stronger than she
was used to, it would be like mistaking whisky for beer and drinking five
pints of it. This wouldn't have occurred if E was legal, just as people
aren't offered pints of whisky to drink.

Leah Betts died of Water intoxication caused by drinking too much water,
not the direct effects of ecstasy.

The alleged effects of LSD all sound apocryphal, I would be interested to
learn their origin. The military tested LSD on soldiers in the 1960's
(there's a funny video on YouTube of it) without them coming to any harm.



BRITAIN’S new drug Czar wants to DOWNGRADE mind-bending ecstasy and LSD,
it was revealed last night.

Professor David Nutt, who was appointed yesterday, says they should no
longer be class A because it does not deter people from taking them.

The professor is the new chairman of the Government’s Advisory Council
on the Misuse of Drugs.

In 2006 he told the council’s science and technology committee: “I
think the evidence base for classification producing deterrence is not
strong and we see that with a number of drugs.

“I think LSD and ecstasy probably shouldn’t be class A.”

The Home Office last night said classification of ecstasy may now
re-examined.

A spokesman said: “The ACMD will consider the evidence for the
classification of ecstasy with an open mind based upon its social misuse
and harms relative to other drugs in the classification system.”

Prof Nutt, formerly the advisory council’s chief scientist, recently
called the Government’s decision to upgrade cannabis to class B from
class C “naive”.

He said reclassification would not put off users.

Prof Nutt took over from Sir Michael Rawlins, who said his successor would
provide “the best possible advice to government.”

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith praised Sir Michael last night adding: “I
look forward to working with his successor so that the advisory
council’s expert advice can continue to inform our drive to reduce the
harm caused by illegal substances.”

Lorna Spinks, 19, died in 2001 after taking two ecstasy tablets before
visiting a nightclub in Cambridge.

And Leah Betts died after taking the drug in 1995 at an 18th birthday
party in Es***.

LSD has been blamed for causing insanity and deaths, including a young
mother beheading her baby in the US.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1184845.ece

-- 
Dr John Watson
Baker Street