Study says alcohol more harmful than marijuana

A major new study into drugs, published in the British medical journal The Lancet, has concluded that alcohol and tobacco are more dangerous than many highly illegal drugs. They are listed in the top 10 most dangerous substances in the study. Researchers believe British law should classify alcohol and tobacco the same as hard drugs such as heroin and cocaine. Head researcher Professor David Nutt of Britain's Bristol University suggested a new classification of harmful substances. He said it needed to be based on the actual risks posed to society. Professor Nutt said the new system was necessary in Britain as the existing one was out of date: "The current drug system is ill thought-out and arbitrary,” he said. He added there was no scientific basis for excluding alcohol and tobacco as serious drugs.

Professor Nutt and his colleagues used three factors to find out how harmful a drug is: the physical harm to the user, how addictive the drug is, and the impact it has on society. The researchers were experts in drug addiction, lawyers and police officers with scientific or medical backgrounds and doctors. All of them agreed on the dangers of alcohol and tobacco. They ranked alcohol as the fifth and tobacco as the ninth most harmful drugs. Heroin and cocaine finished top, while marijuana was eleventh and Ecstasy finished last in the list of 20 drugs. The latter two are illegal in Britain and America, while alcohol and tobacco are legal. Tobacco causes 40 percent of all hospital illnesses, while alcohol is blamed for more than half of all visits to hospital emergency rooms. They also harm society in other ways. They damage families and stretch police services.

Alcohol is a sedative hypnotic. It is a powerful drug available to virtually anyone who wants to try it. Buzzed: The straight facts about the most used and abused drugs from alcohol to ecstasy describes the effects of alcohol on the body: Buzzed Book Jacket Graphic

* About 20 percent of alcohol is absorbed through stomach, and most of the rest is absorbed through the small intestine. Alcohol molecules are carried through the bloodstream and come into contact with the cells of virtually all the organs. When someone drinks on an empty stomach, the blood absorbs the alcohol rapidly. The body also absorbs higher concentrations of alcohol, such as mixed drinks or shots, very quickly


Physical State

* After drinking, people usually feel pleasure and become talkative at first. The feelings are usually replaced by drowsiness as the alcohol is eliminated from body, and the drinker may become withdrawn. This pattern often encourages people to drink more to keep the buzz going.
* Immediate medical attention is necessary if a person becomes unconscious, is impossible to arouse or seems to have trouble breathing.
* Drinking a high concentration of alcohol in a short period of time can suppress the centers of the brain that control breathing and cause a person to pass out or even die.
* When people pass out, their bodies continue to absorb alcohol. The amount of alcohol in the blood can reach dangerous levels, and they can die in their sleep. Continue to check on someone who has gone to sleep drunk. Do not leave that person alone.
* It is dangerous to combine alcohol with other drugs, especially those that make you sleepy
* Most alcohol is metabolized in the liver and then excreted. When someone drinks more alcohol than their liver can handle efficiently, the additional alcohol accumulates in the blood and body tissues.