Drugs without the hot air: Making Sense of Legal and Illegal Drugs

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About the Author: David Nutt is a psychiatrist, the Edmund J Safra Professor of Neuropsychopharmacology in Imperial College London and chair of DrugScience. The rest of the chapter is about psychotropic medication (mostly anti-depressants) and he generally seems unable to see with clear eyes here. Er scheut sich nicht, gängige Mythen und Missverständnisse zu entlarven und bietet einen unvoreingenommenen Blick auf die Vor- und Nachteile verschiedener Drogen. The above exchange occurred in 2011, and if anything, the situation in both the UK and US has deteriorated since then. Insgesamt ist "Drugs Without the Hot Air" ein empfehlenswertes Buch für jeden, der ein besseres Verständnis für das komplexe Thema Drogen gewinnen möchte.

And although treating addiction to heroin and cocaine as a primarily medical problem could be seen as ‘soft on drugs’, he’s arguing for it on the basis that it is the best way to minimise harm. He even does on to make the psychotropic drug-insulin comparison in the next chapter, saying "a child who needs Ritalin to function normally is not addicted. In an entirely serious tone, one guy explained that Nikola Tesla invented a machine to control the weather, which the US government stole and NASA now has.

A further eight – Minimizing the Harms of Legal and Illegal Drugs – describes fairly well the author’s main goal of harm reduction, which he refers back to frequently. Drugs is a simple book, presenting the key facts and arguments, and is often a defence by Nutt of many of his well reported statements. There are a variety of reasons for taking drugs, and they are almost all reasons that are hardwired into us.

By enforcing prohibition and providing the disincentive of prison for drug taking you do reduce the prevalence of drug use. Facts without hype or hysteria, and a lot of useful information and suggestions that could save lives and reduce harm of all kinds - not least from what is currently society's most harmful (overall) drug: alcohol. Jacqui Smith, who was Home Secretary at the time, justified ignoring the recommendations of our report because, she said, her † “decision takes into account issues such as public perception and the needs and consequences for policing priorities.The Times Eureka science magazine voted him one of the 100 most important figures in British Science. But again they were just way to abstract and felt like a cursory glance at potential policy solutions rather than a thoughtful engagement with them. Radical because if all the evidence in the book was taken seriously it would involve a top-to-bottom rewriting of UK drug laws; and obvious because actually not much of this stuff should come as a surprise. David Nutt is a psychiatrist, the Edmund J Safra Professor of Neuropsychopharmacology in Imperial College London and chair of DrugScience. It’s easy to assume that the author has a chip on his shoulder after being controversially removed from his governmental position.

I think, but can’t be certain, that I’ve sat through a tall by the author at some point in that period—though it may have been someone talking about him! As it stands, it looks like the current drugs legislation has done nothing to ameliorate the supply, the demand for and the harm done by these drugs. From alcohol and smoking, cannabis and crack, to the contemporary opioid epidemic, Nutt punctures the myths and tells it like it is. Most purchases from business sellers are protected by the Consumer Contract Regulations 2013 which give you the right to cancel the purchase within 14 days after the day you receive the item.

and policies that rely on stopping all drug use (except alcohol and tobacco, which somehow don't count), simply aren't going to fly.

It is comprehensive in that it includes information on all drugs; recreational, medicinal, legal and illegal, everything from coffee to crack. Very readable, enlightening and a useful book for everyone, since almost everyone uses drugs of some kind. It is intended for people who take drugs, and those dealing with the harms drugs cause: parents, teachers, doctors, politicians, social workers and law enforcement agencies.

The historical elements are inevitably of especial piquancy - did you know that the Pope Leo XIII endorsed cocaine-infused wine? He mentions that 7% of heroin users first tried heroin in prison whereas in the Netherlands, where cannabis use is decriminalised, heroin use is among the lowest in Europe. Confusingly the US Schedules don’t always match with those in the UN Conventions, and in the US penalties are specific to each drug rather than determined by the drug’s Schedule.