He says:
Alcohol is more harmful than many illegal drugs.
The man is then fired as UK’s chief drugs advisor.
Professor David Nutt — Estimating drug harms: a risky business?
“I think we have to accept young people like to experiment – with drugs and other potentially harmful activities – and what we should be doing in all of this is to protect them from harm at this stage of their lives.
We therefore have to provide more accurate and credible information.
“If you think that scaring kids will stop them using, you’re probably wrong. They are often quite knowledgeable about drugs and the internet has made access to information extremely simple. We have to tell them the truth, so that they use us as their preferred source of information.
“A fully scientifically-based Misuse of Drugs Act where drug classification accurately reflects harms would be a powerful educational tool. Using the Act in a political way to give messages other than those relating to relative harms undermines the Act and does great damage to the educational message.”
We are dealing with huge challenges using irrational policies.