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Comparison:
UK Government's Advisory Council on
the Misuse of Drugs report 'The classification of
cannabis under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971':
"4.4.5 It is possible to rank the risks of
dependence of abused drugs with heroin and crack
cocaine the worst and cannabis well below nicotine
and alcohol.
5.4 Regular heavy use of cannabis can result in
dependence, but its dependence potential is
substantially less than that of tobacco or
alcohol."
www.doh.gov.uk/drugs/acmd/cannabisreportmar02.pdf
UK Government's Department of
Health's booklet 'Dangerousness of Drugs' 2001:
p.60: "Although alcohol is most commonly used,
transition from use to dependence for alcohol is
relatively low. In contrast, almost one third of
those who have ever smoked a cigarette and almost all
of those who have ever tried heroin have gone on to
become dependent. In contrast, while almost half of
those surveyed have tried cannabis, less than 10% of
these have gone on to become dependent. What this
would suggest is that tobacco has the greatest
potential for dependence followed by heroin, then
cocaine and alcohol. Cannabis has the lowest
'addictability' of all the drugs listed above."
www.doh.gov.uk/drugs/pdfs/dangerousness.pdf
The World Health Organisation's
report 'Cannabis: a health perspective and research
agenda':
"A major difference between the two [alcohol and
cannabis] is that withdrawal symptoms are either
absent or mild after dependent cannabis users
abruptly stop their cannabis use, whereas the abrupt
cessation of alcohol use in severely dependent
drinkers produces a well defined withdrawal syndrome
which can be potentially fatal".
www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/hemp/general/who-comparison.htm
- "12 million tobacco addicts in the UK
and 300 die every day
- 4 million alcohol addicts in the UK and 100
die every day
- 2 million prescription tranquilliser addicts
in the UK
- 200 000 heroin addicts in the UK"
www.transform-drugs.org.uk/conservative.htm
"In 'Health', Nov/Dec 1990:
To rank today's commonly used drugs by their
addictiveness, we asked experts to consider two
questions: How easy is it to get hooked on these
substances and how hard is it to stop using them?
Although a person's vulnerability to drug also
depends on individual traits -- physiology,
psychology, and social and economic pressures --
these rankings reflect only the addictive potential
inherent in the drug. The numbers below are relative
rankings, based on the experts' scores for each
substance:
100 Nicotine
99 Ice, Glass (Methamphetamine smoked)
98 Crack
93 Crystal Meth (Methamphetamine injected)
85 Valium (Diazepam)
83 Quaalude (Methaqualone)
82 Seconal (Secobarbital)
81 Alcohol
80 Heroin
78 Crank (Amphetamine taken nasally)
72 Cocaine
68 Caffeine
57 PCP (Phencyclidine)
21 Marijuana
20 Ecstasy (MDMA)
18 Psilocybin Mushrooms
18 LSD
18 Mescaline
Research by John Hastings
Relative rankings are definite, numbers given are
(+/-)1% "
www.ccguide.org.uk/addicts.html
New York Times, Aug. 2, 1994:
Nicotine, alcohol, cocaine
& heroin have similar high addictiveness.
Caffeine and cannabis have similar low addictiveness. Detail at:
www.drugwarfacts.org/addictiv.htm
Tobacco:
UK Government's Scientific
Committee on Tobacco and Health 1998:
"1.30 Nicotine has been shown to have effects on
brain dopamine systems similar to those of drugs such
as heroin and cocaine. People seeking treatment for
heroin, cocaine, or alcohol dependence rate
cigarettes as hard to give up as their problem
drug."
www.archive.official-documents.co.uk/document/doh/tobacco/part-1.htm
UK Government's Health Committee's
The Tobacco Industry and the Health Risks of Smoking:
"The Royal College of Physcians (RCP) drew the
following main conclusion: "Cigarette smoking
should be understood as a manifestation of nicotine
addiction ... the extent to which smokers are
addicted to nicotine is comparable with addiction to
'hard' drugs such as heroin and cocaine." We
endorse this conclusion, which underlies many of the
recommendations in our report and is, we believe, of
fundamental importance to policy makers in the UK and
elsewhere".
www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm199900/cmselect/cmhealth/27/2719.htm
"Overall, nicotine stands out as a form of
drug addiction that is second to none, and it is
probably harder to give up smoking than to give up
other drugs of abuse," said Mr Jarvis [of the
Imperial Cancer Research Fund]. "The Royal
College of Physicians is saying that society should
wake up and recognise that it has a deadly and
pervasive addictive drug syndrome covering a quarter
of the adult population…"
www.guardian.co.uk/smoking/Story/0,2763,192712,00.html
Alcohol:
"…one person in 13 is dependent on
alcohol, twice as many as are hooked on other forms
of drug, including prescription drugs, says Alcohol
Concern."
www.guardian.co.uk/drugs/Story/0,2763,660017,00.html
Caffeine:
"People who drink more than 6 to 8 cups of
normal strength tea or coffee a day usually become
dependent. They may find it difficult to stop using
and experience withdrawal symptoms if they try."
www.drugscope.org.uk/druginfo/drugsearch/ds_results.asp?file=\wip\11\1\1\caffeine.html
Cannabis:
See Comparison
Society's response to addiction:
"…the Rolleston Committee [UK
Government] report of 1926 defined addiction as a
disease requiring medical treatment, including
maintenance prescribing. This was a 'harm reduction'
approach…"
www.rcplondon.ac.uk/pubs/books/nicotine/4-addiction.htm
