Scientific study indicates alcohol much worse than other drugs

According to a new study in British medical journal The Lancet, alcohol is ranked the "most harmful" among a list of 20 drugs, more dangerous even than crack cocaine and heroin. The study used a scale that weighed the physical, psychological and social problems caused. It determined that alcohol was the most harmful overall. The study gave alcohol a score of 72 out of 100 for its harm to individual users and the rest of society. That was nearly three times the score given to cocaine and tobacco.

Behind crack cocaine, heroin, and crystal meth, it was the 4th most toxic drug to the individual. It made the top of the list because of the social harms. Alcohol scored high because of crime, vehicle accidents, missed work from hangovers, violence in families, etc. Marijuana, ecstasy and LSD scored low in the study. The study's findings suggest that illicit drug laws have "little relation to the evidence of harm". The decision to make marijuana illegal and alcohol legal is not based on how harmful they are either to users or to society as a whole. "It's not a scientific decision, it's a political decision or a moral decision."