A prominent UK drug advisor has come under fire after making the rather ostentatious claim that using ecstasy is no more dangerous than riding a horse. Truth be told we should be able to make some sort of witty pun on ecstasy vs ketamine use here, but we’re drawing a blank…
The remarks were made by Professor David Nutt, the chairman of ACMD (Advisory Countil on the Misuse of Drugs), in an article published by the Journal Of Psychopharmacology. “Drug harm can be equal to harms in other parts of life,” he wrote. “There is not much difference between horse-riding and ecstasy. This attitude raises the critical question of why society tolerates – indeed encourages – certain forms of potentially harmful behaviour but not others such as drug use.”
Not surprisingly, the ACMD have done their best to distance themselves from the comments made by Professor Nutt, which have caused a veritable storm in a teacup across mainstream media channels. “The recent article by Professor David Nutt published in the Journal Of Psychopharmacology was done in respect of his academic work and not as chair of the ACMD,” a spokesperson asserted. “Professor Nutt’s academic work does not prejudice that which he conducts as chair of the ACMD.”
Professor Nutt has also come under fire from David Raynes of the National Drug Prevention Alliance, with his position as chairman of ACMD called into question. “He is entitled to his personal opinion, but if his personal view conflicts so very strongly with his public duties, it would be honourable to consider his position. If he does not, the Home Secretary should do it for him,” Raynes told UK newspaper the Daily Telegraph.
2 comments:
what a stupid idea to force such a non-working comparison. must be born under the influence of many drunken lonely nights. it does not take much to realize how insulting this statement is for the long tradition of horse riding. imagine the power and the free spirit of a horse and think on how long it takes to achieve good skills. but even the most experienced horse whisperers have to be careful in each second when working with a horse. it is dangerous stuff, and there are many people having destroyed their faces or whatever by the kick of a horse. there are many deads, too. we appriciate a master of horse riding for many reasons. do we appreciate someone who takes his daily ecstasy instead of going to the horses? are there special skills to this stuff? does it take a long time to become a real user? and is there only one person being died for reasons of taking ecstasy? it was said so, i know, but when taking a second look it was shown in all of these cases that there were other reasons being responsible. and btw: take the price for a pill and think about how much of these you could effort before just having enough money to ride only one hour! - ecstasy is for the under priviledged masses - horse riding belongs to the cultivated classes - do not mix this, never.
I agree with you on this!
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