What's the Most Harmful Drug?

While hard drugs such as fentanyl and heroin are often considered the most dangerous substances, new research published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology warns that alcohol is more harmful. The study was led by a team of 25 Australian experts who assigned 0 to 100 danger scores to 22 drugs, ranging from alcohol and tobacco to crystal meth.

Substances were scored on 16 criteria, nine based on harmfulness to the drug user. This category included factors such as drug dependence, impairment of mental functioning, loss of relationships and mortality. The additional seven were based on potential harm to other, for example economic cost, bystander injury, crime and damage to local communities. All criteria were then factored in to generate a final score for each drug.

Alcohol rates as most harmful drug

Fentanyl was found to be the most harmful to individual drug users, followed by heroin, alcohol, crystal meth and tobacco. Though when harm to others was factored into the ratings, alcohol outscored fentanyl, with experts referencing its high economic cost, as well as factors such as family adversity, injury and drug-related morbidity. Crystal meth was second, followed by heroin, fentanyl and tobacco. Drugs such as kava, e-cigarettes, LSD and mushrooms, antipsychotics and ecstasy all scored fairly low.

Interestingly, a similar study in Britain also pegged alcohol as the most dangerous drug when assessed in terms of both the individual and others. The findings were back by a recent Global Burden of Disease study that encompassed 195 countries and warned that no alcohol is safe to drink.

"One drink a day does represent a small increased risk, but adjust that to the UK population as a whole and it represents a far bigger number, and most people are not drinking just one drink a day," says Professor Sonia Saxena, co-author of the study.

Dangers of methamphetamine vary from country to country

While crystal meth was categorised as the second most dangerous drug in Australia, British experts named heroin as runner up. This conclusion was likely driven by the fact that Australia endures the highest prevalence of methamphetamine use in the world.

"The results of this study make an important contribution to the emerging international picture of drug harms. They highlight the persistent and pervasive harms caused by alcohol. Policy implications and recommendations are discussed. Policies to reduce harm from alcohol and methamphetamine should be a priority," reads the conclusion.

While some drugs are harmful, others can save and transform lives. For an in-depth look at the latest drug discovery techniques being used by modern laboratories don't miss 'Investigating Uneven and Very Slow Microplate Evaporation Phenomena.'