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【科普】Tobacco and alcohol 'are more dangerous than LSD'
作者：Jeremy Laurance
发表日期： 23 March 2007
2007年3月23日
Alcohol and tobacco are more harmful than many illegal drugs including the hallucinogen LSD and the dance drug ecstasy, according to a new scale for assessing the dangers posed by recreational substances.
根据一项新的评价消遣物危险性的衡量指标，烟草及酒精比许多非法药物（包括致幻剂LSD及摇头丸）更危险。
Drug specialists say the current system for ranking drugs - class A for the most dangerous to class C for the least dangerous, as set out in the Misuse of Drugs Act - is irrational, arbitrary and "lacking in transparency".药物专家们说，现在的药物分级系统（按《药物滥用法》的规定，最危险的药物被列为A类，危险性最小的被列为C类）是非理性的，武断的，并且“缺乏透明度”。
Scientific evidence shows that heroin and cocaine are correctly ranked as class A drugs as they do cause the most harm.科学证据表明，海洛因及可卡因被划为A类是正确的，因为它们造成的危害最大。 But LSD and ecstasy come close to bottom of the league in terms of harm caused, yet they are also labelled as class A.
Alcohol is legal and widely used but comes fifth in the "harm" table, ahead of amphetamines and cannabis, which are ranked as class B and class C respectively.就所造成的危害而言，LSD和摇头丸几乎是最小的，但它们却被贴上了A类的标签。 Tobacco is also ranked as more harmful than cannabis.烟草也被划为比大麻更有害的级别。
The league table of 20 drugs drawn up by drugs specialists is intended to provide a scientifically based model for policy makers of the harm they cause.药物专家们开列这张有20多种毒品的表，意在就毒品所导致的危害为政策制订者们提供一个科学的分类模型。 It shows that the dangers they pose bear little relationship to the official classification, on which the penalties for drug use are based.看起来他们所设的危害与官方的分类没多大关系，官方的分类被用于与毒品有关的处罚。 The eight drugs ranked as most dangerous include two that are unclassified while the eight judged least dangerous include two class A drugs.被列为高度危害的8种毒品中包括了2种未被列入官方分类的毒品，而8种被评定为危害较小的则包括了2种被官方定为A类的毒品。
The report comes a fortnight after an independent commission called for a radical overhaul of Britain's drug laws which it said were driven by a "moral panic".这份报告是在一个独立委员会认为英国的药物管理法律是由“道德恐慌”所驱使的，并呼吁对其作激烈的改动后2个星期后出台的。 The commission, set up by the Royal Society of Arts, said the aim of public policy should be to reduce the harm drugs cause, not send people to jail.由皇家艺术协会所设立的这个委员会认为公共政策的目的应该是减少毒品所造成的危害，而不是把人们投进监狱。 It proposed reclassifying drugs - legal and illegal - according to the harm they do.
Professor David Nutt, who works in addiction psychiatry at the University of Bristol and who led the latest research, said:该委员会提议对合法的及非法的药品根据它们所造成的危害进行重新分类。在布里斯托大学从事成瘾精神病学工作的David Nut教授，领导着这项最新的研究，他说： "The current drug classification system is arbitrary in the way it assesses harms.“现在的毒品分类系统在评价危害性的方式太武断了。 It is not fit for purpose.它并不适用于这一目的。 We have tried to come up with a better system by looking at the factors that contribute to drug use and the harms they cause.我们试图想出一种更好的系统，审视造成毒品使用的各种因素及它们所导致的危害。 We should review the penalties for drug use in the light of the harms they cause and have a more proportionate response."我们根据毒品所造成的危害重新审查对毒品使用的处罚，反应应该更恰当一些。”
Professor Colin Blakemore, chief executive of the Medical Research Council and co-author of the study, said:Colin Blakemore 教授是英国医学研究理事会的总裁，也是这项研究的共同作者，他说： "The object was to bring a dispassionate approach to a very passionate issue.“目的是冷静地看待一个非常灼手的议题。 Some conclusions might appear to be liberal in stance, but that was not our starting position.某些结论看起来可能象是自由派的立场，但这并不是我们的初衷。 We intended to reach conclusions that were evidence-based."我们意在以事实为依据作出结论。“
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作者:admin@医学,生命科学 2011-01-12 17:14
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