Overview

Prof David Nutt was appointed chairman of the UK Government's Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), in 2008. In 2009 he published an editorial in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, comparing the harms caused by horse-riding with the effect of taking ecstasy. As a result of this and other comments on the harms caused by legal and illegal drugs, he was sacked by the then Home Secretary. In Drugs - without the hot air Prof Nutt explains that all drugs are harmful, from tobacco to heroin. But not all drugs harm equally: the reader can make an informed decision regarding their own and their children's lifestyle. This book, born out of the controversy when he was sacked by HM Government, shows the deep rift between the Government's need to appear tough on drugs on the one hand, and a rational evidence-based approach to drugs legislation and treatment. Prof Nutt shows how the overall harms of a drug can be quantified, addressing issues ranging from direct danger of death, through to environmental, financial and family factors, to a give a true indication of the overall effect of a drug. He explains in depth how the common drugs - from heroin and cocaine, to alcohol and tobacco - affect us, and why we take them. Then, working from the facts, he recommends how society ought to address drugs and drug-taking, to minimize the harms at every level.

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9781906860165

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Reviews

There's an inherent danger in any sector of education: if the teachings fail to measure up to the truth, then we'll be paving the way for a deep distrust and a greater apathy. With this in mind, it is of tremendous enthusiasm that we welcome Professor Nutt's book: Drugs - Without the Hot Air -- Jason Reed Huffington Post a refreshingly clear-eyed work. Anyone looking for a calm and objective overview of the drugs available in Britain would do much better to read Professor Nutt's book than to believe what they read in the papers, or what they hear from the lips of government ministers. -- The Economist Nutt is both committed to rigorous, evidence-based policy and to clear, no-nonsense prose that makes complex subjects comprehensible. [...] a book that everyone should read. -- Cory Doctorow Boing Boing

the most sensible book about drugs you'll read this year ... Nutt is both committed to rigorous, evidence-based policy and to clear, no-nonsense prose that makes complex subjects comprehensible ... a book that everyone should read. Cory Doctorow, BoingBoing, June 2012 Finally, Drug Education Gets Real ... There's an inherent danger in any sector of education: if the teachings fail to measure up to the truth, then we'll be paving the way for a deep distrust and a greater apathy. With this in mind, it is of tremendous enthusiasm that we welcome Professor Nutt's book: Drugs - Without the Hot Air ... Huffington Post, 31-May-2012 Drug bans hamper brain research, says neuroscientist ... Bans on drugs like ecstasy, magic mushrooms and LSD have hampered scientific research on the brain and stalled the progress of medicine as much as George Bush's ban on stem cell research did, a leading British drug expert said on Thursday. ... Reuters, LONDON

"""There's an inherent danger in any sector of education: if the teachings fail to measure up to the truth, then we'll be paving the way for a deep distrust and a greater apathy. With this in mind, it is of tremendous enthusiasm that we welcome Professor Nutt's book: Drugs - Without the Hot Air"" -- Jason Reed * Huffington Post * ""A refreshingly clear-eyed work. Anyone looking for a calm and objective overview of the drugs available in Britain would do much better to read Professor Nutt’s book than to believe what they read in the papers, or what they hear from the lips of government ministers."" -- The Economist ""Nutt is both committed to rigorous, evidence-based policy and to clear, no-nonsense prose that makes complex subjects comprehensible. [...] a book that everyone should read."" -- Cory Doctorow * Boing Boing *"

There's an inherent danger in any sector of education: if the teachings fail to measure up to the truth, then we'll be paving the way for a deep distrust and a greater apathy. With this in mind, it is of tremendous enthusiasm that we welcome Professor Nutt's book: Drugs - Without the Hot Air -- Jason Reed * Huffington Post * a refreshingly clear-eyed work. Anyone looking for a calm and objective overview of the drugs available in Britain would do much better to read Professor Nutt's book than to believe what they read in the papers, or what they hear from the lips of government ministers. -- The Economist Nutt is both committed to rigorous, evidence-based policy and to clear, no-nonsense prose that makes complex subjects comprehensible. [...] a book that everyone should read. -- Cory Doctorow * Boing Boing *

Author Information

David Nutt is Edmond J Safra Professor of Neurosychopharmacology at Imperial College, London, but is best known as 'the scientist who was sacked' by the UK's Home Secretary because he compared the harms of horse-riding with taking ecstasy or cannabis. He was Chair of the ACMD's Technical Committee for seven years, and became chairman of the Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs in 2010.

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