Ten Most Dangerous Drugs
According to a study published in The Lancet, alcohol and tobacco rankamong the ten most dangerous substances used by humans. Both alcohol and tobacco have been assessed to be more dangerous than illegal drugs like marijuana or ecstasy.
The following three factors were considered in ranking the harmfulness of each drug that was evaluated:
- Physical harm to the user
- Addictive potential of the drug
- The drug’s overall impact on society
Psychiatrists who specialize in treating addictive behavior and legal or police officials with scientific or medical expertise were asked to assign a score to each of the three factors listed above for each drug that was evaluated in this study. All told, 20 different drugs were evaluated, including cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, amphetamines, and LSD.
Ranked from most to least dangerous, the ten most dangerous substances were deemed to be:
- Heroin – popular street names include smack, skag, and junk.
- Cocaine – often referred to as snow, flake, coke, and blow.
- Barbiturates – popular slang names include yellow jackets, reds, blues, Amy’s, and rainbows.
- Street Methadone
- Alcohol
- Ketamine – a powerful hallucinogen, often referred to as Special K.
- Benzodiazepines – a family of sedative drugs.
- Amphetamines – known as greenies among baseball players.
- Tobacco
- Buprenorphine – also called bupe or subbies.
The remaining drugs that were assessed in this study ranked as follows:
- Cannabis – includes marijuana.
- Solvents – volatile substances that can be inhaled, such as glue, nail polish remover, paints, hair spray, and lighter fuel (gas).
- 4-MTA – is a derivative of amphetamine and has similar effects to ecstasy.
- LSD
- Methylphenidate – central nervous system stimulant, commonly sold as ritalin.
- Anabolic steroids
- GHB – short for Gamma hydroxybutyrate, a powerful central nervous system depressant, most commonly known as the date rape drug.
- Ecstasy
- Alkyl nitrates – group of drugs commonly referred to as poppers.
- Khat – an amphetamine-like stimulant.
It is estimated that tobacco causes 40 percent of all hospital illnesses, while alcohol is involved in more than 50 percent of all visits to hospital emergency rooms. In light of these statistics, the authors of this study question why alcohol and tobacco are legal to use within current drug policies for Britain and the United States, while less harmful drugs like ecstasy and LSD are deemed illegal to use.
The bottom line: alcohol and tobacco are two of the most dangerous substances that you can expose yourself to on a regular basis. In terms of overall potential to cause harm, if used regularly, alcohol and tobacco belong in the same category as other recreational drugs like cocaine and heroin.
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I guess that Meth isn’t a dangerous drug…
Methamphetemine is one of the Amphetemines, but to include it with the others at eighth on the list does seem wrong. The listing of cannabis above solvents also seems incorrect. Huffing glue or hairspray is way more likely to get you a trip to the emergency ward than weed.
pot is harmless (unless you spend all your money on it), shrooms alleviate migraines, lsd causes profound spiritual breakthroughs and can CURE alcoholism, and ecstacy, in it’s pure form of mdma, used to be prescribed to couples in the 70’s for marriage therapy. everything else (save a little alcohol) is garbage, waiting to kill you.
yet all these drugs in the wrong hands can kill. responsible people can do drugs. idiots… well, they get caught.
The criteria is not bad but the judges are biased. Most people don’t want to acknowledge how much damage alcohol does because it is socially acceptable and half of the time they use too much of it themselves.
In the US, alcohol is responsible for almost $150B annually for deaths, injuries, illness, etc., about $97B for tobacco consequences and then $97.7B for everything else on that list, combined.
It is a myth that opiates and amphetamines are more dangerous – in fact, they are not, they are just faster and not as socially acceptable.
And Dave, Dave, Dave…(shaking head). You can no more cure an alcoholic than you can turn a pickle back into a cucumber. I have seen and done most of it, and spent ten years as a certified addiction counselor. Psychedelics can, at times, trigger what Freud called an “oceanic feeling” which is similar to what the ancient wisdom traditions describe as an awareness of being one with all of creation, but it is not the same thing and it is no substitute for real spiritual growth.