Problem drugs - We must deal with dangers of alcohol

The findings of Britain’s Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs – published in the influential medical journal, The Lancet – suggesting alcohol is more dangerous than highly addictive drugs like heroin or crack cocaine needs to be scrutinised very carefully.

Nobody should make the mistake of thinking that the dangers of heroin or crack cocaine have been exaggerated. Rather, the problem has been that the dangers of alcohol have been greatly minimised by glamorous advertising over the years.

Alcohol is more readily available than most other drugs and hence undoubtedly causes more problems for the families of abusers. The World Health Organisation estimates that 2.5 million deaths a year are attributable to the abuse of alcohol – due to heart and liver disease, as well suicides, cancer, and road accidents caused by people driving under the influence of the drug.