An evidence-based Harms Index
The gravity of any offence, and therefore the penalties to be attached to it, would be determined by reference to a harms index, that would rank substances in the order of their harmfulness as assessed on the scientific and sociological evidence.
A model already exists in work done by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs itself for the construction of such a harms index. An unofficial matrix of drug-related harms is already the informal mechanism on the basis of which the ACMD’s Technical Committee has made some of its recommendations. Professors Blakemore and Nutt have worked with William Saulsbury of the Police Foundation and Leslie King of the Forensic Science Service on what David Nutt has described as ‘a matrix in which numerical values could be given to assessments of harm in order to rank drugs, not just illegal drugs but also including the familiar, acceptable, legal drugs as a kind of calibrator for the scale as a whole’

Blakemore Nutt hierarchy of harms


The index, a simple list of substances set out in descending order of harmfulness, could be generated by a matrix mapping the various types and degrees of harm associated with each of the substances in question. These harms would be related to, among other things, the substances’ chemical properties. Thus it would be possible to differentiate, say, between different grades of cannabis according to their levels of THC or tetrahydrocannabinol, allowing skunk and the many other varieties of high-strength cannabis to be ranked higher than the most common street-level varieties.

But the catalogue of harms would not be restricted to the substances’ chemical characteristics. It would also—and this is critically important—incorporate the context, the circumstances and the ways in which the substances might be used, for example:
 
(a) the effects that a substance may have on people with particular characteristics—high blood pressure, for example, or a tendency to depression;

(b) the risks inherent in particular methods of taking substances—injecting crack, say, rather than chewing coca leaves, combining heroin with alcohol, snorting ketamine, injecting in the groin;

(c) the links between individual substances and particular types of crime—between crack and violent behaviour, heroin or cocaine and shop-lifting, alcohol and domestic violence, GHB and (allegedly) date-rape;

(d) the propensity for some substances to be used in binges; and so on.

The matrix would set out each of the categories of harm that substances may cause, and each individual substance would then be scored in each category. Its mean score would be used, but only as a guide, to help determine its relative position on the harms index.

The index should be based on the best available evidence and should be able to be modified in the light of new evidence – and also in the light of the coming onto the market of new substances.

It should be intelligible to lay persons as well as to scientists and lawyers, and the evidence on which it is based should be made readily available to the public.

There should be no mystery about it, as there is about the present ABC classification, which often appears to be arbitrary, confused and haphazard.
Immediately related elementsHow this works
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Drugs Policy in the UK »Drugs Policy in the UK
What drugs policy measures are open to the UK? »What drugs policy measures are open to the UK?
Introduce a Misuse of Substances Act »Introduce a Misuse of Substances Act
An evidence-based Harms Index
Adaptable to new drugs and research »Adaptable to new drugs and research
Index to underpin law and wider policy »Index to underpin law and wider policy
Objective assessment guides change »Objective assessment guides change
Index updatable as new substances emerge »Index updatable as new substances emerge
Index would increase transparency »Index would increase transparency
Live source of comprehensive information »Live source of comprehensive information
Penalties shaped by harms caused »Penalties shaped by harms caused
Easier to apply appropriate penalties »Easier to apply appropriate penalties
Reduce personal prejudice in sentencing »Reduce personal prejudice in sentencing
Drugs policy becomes less partisan »Drugs policy becomes less partisan
Sensitive to varied settings and harms »Sensitive to varied settings and harms
Use index to prioritise harm reduction »Use index to prioritise harm reduction
Help users to contextualise behaviour »Help users to contextualise behaviour
Media hysteria exerts less influence »Media hysteria exerts less influence
"All" is too emphatic »"All" is too emphatic
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