Tobacco and booze worse than pot and ecstasy

Of course we drug policy reformers have been pointing this out for years, but a new study confirms it.

LONDON -- New "landmark" research finds that alcohol and tobacco are more dangerous than some illegal drugs like marijuana or Ecstasy and should be classified as such in legal systems, according to a new British study.

Heroin and cocaine were ranked most dangerous, followed by barbiturates and street methadone. Alcohol was the fifth-most harmful drug and tobacco the ninth most harmful. Cannabis came in 11th, and near the bottom of the list was Ecstasy.

On a more sober note, this could very well be the first sign that the nanny government types will start calling for a new prohibition against the currently legal drugs.

While experts agreed that criminalizing alcohol and tobacco would be challenging, they said that governments should review the penalties imposed for drug abuse and try to make them more reflective of the actual risks and damages involved.

Nutt called for more education so that people were aware of the risks of various drugs. "All drugs are dangerous," he said. "Even the ones people know and love and use every day."

In fact, everything is dangerous if consumed to excess - even water, as those who recall the recent death of a radio show contestant in California will remember. The point is once you start the slide down the slippery slope of allowing nanny government to dictate non-infringing personal behavior, it's extraordinarily difficult to get back up that hill to common sense.

As I've often said, once they were done with the potheads, they would be coming after your vice next. That's why it's important for non-consumers to join in the fight against government nannyism, even if they don't indulge in the wrongly criminalized behaviors.

[h/t Tits McGee]