Drug Classification: Making A Hash Of It

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Drug Classification: Making A Hash Of It? was the title of a report made by the Science and Technology Committee to the British House of Commons. It was published in July 2006. The report suggested that the current system of recreational drug classification in the UK was arbitrary and unscientific, and instead suggested a more scientific measure of harm be used for classifying drugs.

Among other issues, the report strongly criticised the decision to place fresh Magic Mushrooms in Class A, the same category as cocaine and heroin.

[edit] Alternative Classification

Recently, in a report published in the Lancet Journal, researchers have introduced an alternative method for drug classification in the UK. This new system uses a “nine category matrix of harm, with an expert Delphic procedure, to assess the harms of a range of illicit drugs in an evidence-based fashion.” The categories of harm included 3 main categories and 3 subcategories for each:

1. Physical Harm

    A.     Acute
    B.  Chronic 
    C.  Intravenous Harm

2. Dependence

    A.     Intensity of Pleasure
    B.  Psychological Dependence
    C.  Physical Dependence

3. Social Harm

    A.     Intoxication
    B.  Other Social Harms
    C.  Health-care costs

The researchers used the proposed classification system to test illegal and some legal substances including alcohol and tobacco among others. The new classification system suggested that heroin, morphine, cocaine, amphetamines, and temazepam have very high risk of harm, while alcohol and tobacco were in the mid-range of harm, and Cannabis, LSD, and Ecstasy were all below the two legal drugs. [1]

[edit] References

1. "Development of a rational scale to assess the harm of drugs of potential misuse" (free subscription needed), David Nutt, Leslie A. King, William Saulsbury, Colin Blakemore, The Lancet, 24 March 2007