Alcohol More Dangerous than Cocaine and Heroin

Warning for those of you addicted to alcohol, a study says, alcohol poorer result in a much worse than the other two types of harmful substances, like heroin and cocaine.

As published in The Lancet, an expert on drugs in the UK who are members of the Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs (ISCD) introduces a new method for measuring the adverse effects of drugs, both to individuals and society.

In his research report, Professor David Nutt from Imperial College London analyzed the alcohol worth mentioning as the most damaging substances in the world after considering the impact of individual and social . After alcohol, other substances of the most damaging is the heroin and cocaine. The ecstasy was ranked eighth.

Professor Nutt wrote the study report along with other experts, like Dr. Leslie King, an adviser to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), and Dr Lawrence Phillips from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

In the new method, Professor Nutt used a method called multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA). In the method was made nine criteria of adverse effects for individuals, and seven categories of adverse effects for society.

Adverse effects for the individual categories such as death, poor quality health, mental dysfunction, destruction of friendships, and injury. The adverse impact of social categories such as crime, environmental damage, family conflict, and a decrease in community involvement.

Heroin, cocaine, crystal meth and was recorded as the most dangerous substances to individuals, while alcohol, heroin, and cocaine are the substances most harmful to the social.

However, after deducting the impact on individuals and society as a whole, alcohol was recorded three times more dangerous than cocaine or tobacco.

World Health Organization, WHO, estimates that the risks associated with alcohol use causes 2.5 million deaths each year from liver heart disease, traffic accidents, suicide, and cancer. This figure accounted for 3.8 percent of total deaths and ranked three trigger risk of premature death and disability in the world. Source: Kompas.com