Alcohol Nearly As Harmful As Heroin, Warn Top Scientists

Alcohol is ranked almost as harmful as heroin and cocaine in a new drug classification system proposed by a team of leading scientists. The class A drug ecstasy, possession of which can result in a seven-year prison sentence, is placed near the bottom of a league table published today in The Lancet medical journal, which lists “harm scores” for 20 different substances.

LSD, another class A drug, is also considered relatively safe despite its powerful hallucinogenic properties. The classification comes as licensing industry leaders in Glasgow join forces with the city’s licensing board in an unprecedented move to appeal for a drinks pricing system amid concern Scotland’s largest city is “awash” with cut-price alcohol and the authorities are powerless to prevent it.

James Mortimer is one of a handful in the Glasgow licensed trade credited with helping turn the city’s night-time image around. He said: “Surely a country which has done almost the impossible and banned smoking in public places can set a minimum price of around £1.50 a drink. Don’t they realise binge drinking eats up police, hospital and court time and the huge costs with this? You don’t go to Dublin’s Temple Bar and get 69p vodkas.”

As the law stands, options available to the authorities to impose a minimum price are practically non-existent. Glasgow attempted to rid itself of “happy hours” three years ago but the leeway of allowing discounts, provided they last for a full day or more, has been abused by some licensees buying in bulk and discounting for weeks on end.

There are also concerns it is not clear at this stage if a new act, due to come into effect in September 2009, will contain anything to suggest minimum pricing is even an option. However, some experts believe the licensing objectives, which underpin the new act, could allow a minimum pricing system to promote health.

Former Scottish Executive adviser Jack Cummins said the option was open to the legislators. He said: “It has to be kept in view that there are five licensing objectives’ central to the new act, one of which is protecting and improving public health’. Curbs on deep discounting which may lead to excessive alcohol consumption could presumably be justified as furthering that objective.”

An executive spokeswoman said: “Decisions in relation to taxation are made on a UK- wide basis by the Treasury but we want to be involved in this debate. We are also keen to discuss voluntary moves by retailers around price, in the context of our recently announced partnership agreement with the alcohol industry in Scotland.”

The “harm” table was drawn up by scientists led by Professor David Nutt, from the University of Bristol, and Professor Colin Blakemore, chief executive of the Medical Research Council.

It is intended to be a model for policy makers which is more scientifically based than the current Misuse of Drugs Act system that attaches “A, B, and C” labels to illegal drugs.

Cannabis, recently downgraded to class C, occupies a middle position. It is rated more dangerous than ecstasy and LSD but considered less harmful than tobacco.

The inclusion of alcohol in the table was welcomed by the Scottish Executive and Scotland’s national charity for alcohol issues but one expert on drugs misuse described it as a “misguided…attempt to muddy the distinction between illegal and legal drugs”.