Some Interesting facts coming out of the UK drugs crisis..........







Last week, the government has sacked its most senior drugs advisor, Dr Professor Nutt, after he claimed cannabis was no more harmful than alcohol. And that horse-riding was riskier than taking ecstasy.
(Technically he's right. The lifetime odds of dying from ecstasy overdose is 1 in 17,803. The risk of dying from horse-riding is around double - 1 in 7,833.)
Taking the science behind his statement and mashing it up with press coverage of drug risks creates an interesting picture.
Drug-related deaths versus media coverage

The government's own data backs up Nutt's assertions. Cannabis seems pretty risk-free, mortality-wise, and its dangers are over-reported in the popular media. Meanwhile, fatalities from legal drugs like paracetamol and anti-depressants are higher than most illicit drugs combined. And those fatalities mostly go unreported.
But this the whole picture? Using raw mortality figures is a bit coarse. Obviously, far more people take paracetamol and alcohol than ecstasy and cannabis. So logically you would expect more deaths for paracetamol and alcohol.
To give more accurate picture of risk, drug deaths should really be taken as a proportion of users.
If you factor in estimated users, a different picture emerges.
Drug deaths measured Photograph: guardian.co.uk

The danger of cocaine and solvent use becomes clear. Cannabis, however, still remains relatively risk free. And paracetamol extremely safe.
Interestingly, the data reveals that anti-depressants, especially those from the SSRI (Prozac-like) family, have the same fatality rates as ecstasy. Feeling happy obviously has its price...
Here is the spreadsheet of data for you to explore.
Important notes on the data

• The cannabis death's figure is a bit dubious in my opinion. Firstly, how can you die from cannabis? It's extremely non-toxic. There has never been a single documented case of fatal cannabis overdose. Also, the government's own figures don't tally. While drug figures from the Office Of National Statistics register 19 cannabis related deaths, the mortality stats from the same office log only 1 death.
• The press reports figures are a bit coarse, but consistent. I used the 'drug name' + death as a search via Google News timeline. Here's an example.
Check out the spreadsheet of data to see the rest
• Paracetamol deaths may be squewed a bit by the fact that's it a very common method of suicide.
• Number of users per drug are estimated, ballpark figures. You can see my sources and workings-out on the spreadsheet.

Great info, you can really see how things get Demonized and blown way out of proportion. Interestingly the USA has kept data on death by drug for decades now and the cumulative grand total for death by marijuana is ZERO (0), goose egg, nada, zip, zero, zilch. You can't die from MJ overdose, but you may die from doing stupid things while high, but then again people do stupid things while totally sober.

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It is far easier to ignorantly control others than it is to wisely control yourself.

liked the post, didn't really get the whole 10,000 users vs. press reports comparison...

i'm gonna look at this data... see if I can come up with something interesting...

Yeah, not sure how you die from cannabis. I guess if someone jumps out of a window while stomed it'll no doubt get the blame but theres always other factors.
The statisctic that really shines out is the 484% reporting figure for cannabis. It really shows the tabloid scaremongering on weed in the UK which the Prime Minister wholeheartedly approves of....

Quote..."I think people know my view about cannabis and particularly about this lethal version of it, skunk." Gordon Brown.

The mans a fecking idiot.