The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 278 No 7445 p361
31 March 2007

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Illicit drug classification does not reflect harm assessment

The framework used by the UK's Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs to assess the risks associated with illicit drugs is discussed in a Lancet article published last week (2007;369:1047).

The authors used the framework to rank a range of drugs, including those currently categorised into groups A, B and C within schedule 2 of the Misuse of Drugs Act as well as unclassified substances including alcohol, solvents and tobacco. They found a “surprisingly poor correlation” between drugs’ harm ranking and their Misuse of Drugs Act classification, although class-A drugs heroin and cocaine were still ranked highest in terms of harm. The authors say that the method now used to assess harm is evidence based, but they are critical of the system used to classify drugs under the Misuse of Drugs Act. “The current classification system,” the authors say, “has evolved in an unsystematic way from somewhat arbitrary foundations with seemingly little scientific basis.”